Ryou's Cousin
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: When Ryou gets a letter from England, the last thing he expected was for his second cousin to come live with him. Now he has to contend with an amused Bakura, a possessive Malik, and an obsessed Pharaoh. Will his sanity survive? Rating will go up later.
1. Chapter 1

Bakura was bored. Ryou had allowed him to go about the town in his body for a while, and Marik wasn't around at the moment. Every gang in the city had gone underground the second he stepped out the door.

It seemed that whenever someone spotted white hair and red eyes, the alert went out to run.

So he honestly didn't expect his day to become interesting.

At least, until he was hit in the head with an owl.

Cursing, he picked up the errant bird. It looked as cross as he felt. Ryou woke up in time to stop Bakura from killing it painfully.

_/Yami wait! Did it come with a letter?/_

_/Why should I care if it came with a letter?/_

_/Because if it did, then maybe I could send one back./_

_/HUH?/_

Ryou was amused at how surprised his Yami sounded. It wasn't often he could pull one over the eyes of his darkness. Especially since the Ring and the other Items had been sealed away finally.

Still, it wasn't like they lost their dark sides. It only meant that the Items wouldn't be an issue anymore. Yugi still had his Yami, and Ryou still had Bakura. Even Marik had Malik.

Ryou took over and spotted the letter. It was from an old friend of his cousin's family. Sirius Black.

"_Dear Ryou,_

_I hope I spelled your name out right this time. Sorry for not owling you for the past decade, but I was falsely imprisoned for twelve years._

_Anyway, how have you been? Have you grown any bigger since the last time I saw you? Or are you still the runt I remember who liked to pull my tail?_

_Things aren't going so great back home. The dark idiot is back and he's targeting Harry. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind letting him stay with you for a few months. He won't be too much of a problem, and he knows how to do household chores._

_Let me know when you get this,_

_Sirius."_

Ryou grinned. He remembered Sirius very well. The man had made him laugh after his mother had died. His sister had barely survived, and was attending a school in France. She never told him which one.

Ryou on the other hand had ended up with his father. Which is why he spent the last ten years regularly changing schools. It was like his father was running from something.

Ryou took out a piece of notepaper and a pen. Once he went to a cafe and ordered a cup of earl gray, he started to write Sirius a letter back. A few people shot him odd looks because of the owl.

"_Dear Sirius,_

_I wouldn't mind spending a few months with my cousin. I just hope he doesn't mind the oddities that happen around me regularly. What is Harry like by the way? Last I heard Aunt Lily and Uncle James had a three month old._

_From, _

_Ryou."_

He tied the letter securely around the leg of the owl. It took off after drinking from the water glass that the waiter had given him.

Once he left the cafe, Bakura spoke up. He sounded...confused?

_/What the hell was that about?/_

_/I have a cousin back in England. People back there tend to send letters using owls for some reason./_

_/Seriously?/_

_/Yes./_

_/So...no owl legs for dinner?/_

Ryou sputtered. Bakura actually considered _eating _an owl? He could feel his darkness' amusement through their link.

* * *

Two days later another owl came to Ryou. He was blinking through his sleepy daze, and realized that something big, white and feathered was giving him a patient look.

"Hello. Would you like some bacon?" he asked. He was too sleepy to even consider eating anything other than buttered toast at the moment.

He heard Bakura sputter in anger. That was his bacon dammit! He was so eating this wretched bird.

Suddenly the white owl glared at the spot where Bakura was standing, wraith like. She seemed to be giving him a look that read 'Try it and you will _suffer.'_

Ryou and Bakura were startled. Normal owls couldn't see Bakura unless he manifested himself. Even then they wanted nothing to do with him.

Ryou took the letter off her (he sensed it was a female) and read it. He was taken aback by how polite it sounded. Most boys his age were rude or would be annoyed with being told what to do.

Harry it seemed, didn't mind that he was being sent to live with his cousin. He actually looked forward to leaving his old life behind!

Ryou sent a letter back, and the owl gave him an imperious hoot. She took off after stealing _all_ of Bakura's bacon...to his rage.

_/I am going to kill that owl! That was my bacon!/_

"I'll make some more bacon and some sausages," said Ryou calmly.

_/...Make it steak and you have a deal./_

Ryou was used to Bakura's carnivore tendencies. He cooked the steak rare, so his darkness could savor the bloody taste. It was a miracle Ryou hadn't become a vegetarian after all these years.

* * *

Marik dropped by unannounced, as usual. He seemed surprised that Ryou was leaving for the airport.

"You got a flight to catch?"

"More like I have to pick someone up. Care to help me steal a car?"

After three years of living with Bakura, Ryou had learned to let his darkness get his criminal tendencies out early, and avoid losing control of his body for days at a time. It had saved him a lot of headaches over the last few months.

"Meh...there aren't any good ones nearby. Want to steal one from Kaiba?"

"Last time he did that, Kaiba threatened to garrote us. Didn't Yami get a car for Yugi?"

"It's a tiny one. The only one who can sit in it is them," laughed Marik.

Last time Joey had tried to bum a ride off his best friend, they had to get the jaws of life to get him out of the car. (By which Yugi meant they had blackmailed Kaiba into helping him pull Joey out. Kaiba had thought the whole incident hilarious.)

Ryou winced. While Bakura would love to steal the Pharaoh's car, there was no way in hell he would like to ride in it. Even with the sun roof open. (Which was the only reason Joey can sit straight. He had his head out of the roof. Unfortunately this was also the reason he was stuck. His legs had been jammed into the front passenger seat and it didn't go back enough that he could climb out.)

Then Ryou discovered a car Bakura would agree to. The only problem was that the security system was completely electronic, and Bakura had the worst luck with anything more complicated than the toaster. (Though to be fair Yami had the exact same problem. Except when it came to video game consoles.)

He sighed. It looked like he was going to have trouble picking up his cousin in an hour.

The white owl returned. In her claws was something plastic. Harry had asked her to stay with Ryou until he arrived. All he had to do was open the window and she would hunt for herself. Seeing some of the prey she brought back had impressed even Bakura. Not many owls could take down a large rabbit that was twice their weight.

The owl dropped the plastic in his hands. She hooted smugly from his shoulder.

Ryou stared. How the hell did an owl get a credit card? Whoever this D. Devlan was, it was clear they had a bad memory. They had written their pin number on the back!

Ryou went to a rental agency and got the car. Marik went with him mostly out of boredom...and because Ishizu was on the warpath. He knew he should have toned down the prank he set off, but he had been so bored!

They reached the air port with thirty minutes to spare. Harry would be arriving on an unlisted flight, which meant that they couldn't find his gate without asking.

Or so they thought. The second they went inside the terminals, the owl took off Ryou's shoulder and headed straight for one of the gates. They followed her, not understanding why she was currently going nuts in an air port.

Until they heard a sharp whistle and saw her dive down.

"Hedwig!"

The voice had a British accent, but with a hint of Scottish. Ryou managed to get to the boy, concerned that the owl would rip him a new one. (She had almost done the same to Bakura the one time he tried to kill and eat her.)

Instead the owl was...cuddling? The boy had short black hair that went everywhere, and his clothes hung off his rather small frame. Well, everything except his shirt, which was a green color with an 'H' knitted into it.

The owl hooted, and turned in their direction. The boy looked with her, and Ryou could see bright emerald eyes hidden behind glasses that had been broken repeatedly and were only hanging on by a thread.

The boy walked up to them.

"Are you Ryou Bakura?" he asked, trying not to mangle his name.

"You must be Harry. Your owl is very well behaved."

Harry beamed at him.

"Hedwig is pretty smart," he said with a smile.

"I thought your flight didn't come in for another fifteen minutes?"

Harry looked sheepish.

"Actually I just arrived ten minutes ago. It took me a while to be able to stand straight without feeling sick."

"Shall we get going?" asked Ryou. Harry picked up his suitcase and followed his new cousin outside. He raised an eyebrow when he spotted Marik though.

"Harry, this is my friend Marik. Marik, this is Harry."

"Yo," said Marik, giving him a two fingered salute. Harry grinned.

"I would shake your hand, but I'm afraid you would bite it," said Harry with a grin. Marik stared at him, and then laughed.

"Good one!"

"It's the hair, honestly," said Harry, mock serious.

Marik erupted into a fit of snickers. Harry took the chance to put his new suitcase into the back.

While they drove back to Ryou's apartment, they asked him polite non-questions about his life. Where he went to school, who his friends were, what his life was like...the usual.

Harry in return seemed unusually guarded about his life. And that set Ryou and Marik off. They knew he wasn't normal.

Finally they reached Ryou's apartment...when he realized that he had locked the door and left his keys inside. The window was closed too, so Hedwig couldn't fly in and get them. (Ryou had discovered to his shock that if he asked she would follow most commands within reason.)

Ryou sighed. He didn't want his cousin to learn about Bakura just yet. He was afraid that Harry would run screaming from the sight of the five thousand year old spirit.

So what happened next came as a complete shock. Though it definitely amused Marik to no end.

Harry reached into his carry on and took out something small and in a black box. When he opened it, Ryou stared. Harry had a set of lock picks!

To add to his shock, Harry took out three small picks and in less than two minutes had the door unlocked.

He put them up with a grin.

"I was hoping for a chance to test my new set out. Hope you don't mind if your cousin can pick locks," said Harry sheepishly.

Marik couldn't help his reaction, he held onto the metal guardrail and laughed like a hyena. When they could finally get a word out of him, he said with tears of laughter in his eyes, "He is _definitely_ your cousin!"

Harry looked bewildered at that statement. And even more so at Marik's reaction to his skill.

Ryou opened the door, hoping to avoid awkward questions for tonight.

Fortunately Harry was willing to let it go for now, provided he was allowed to sleep out the jet lag. Ryou was more than happy to show him his new room. Harry was out like a light within minutes. Hedwig sat on the bed post, and watched over him like a nesting mother would.

Ryou closed the door.

Marik grinned at his friend.

"And here you were worried that he wouldn't like you!" he teased.

"I honestly didn't expect him to know how to pick locks," said Ryou in disbelief.

"Somehow, I think that kid will get along great with us. Wonder how he would react to Yugi?"

"I don't know, but I'm more concerned about Bakura. He's still asleep."

"So he has no idea Harry is here already?"

"Not a clue."

Marik grinned evilly.

"Mind if I spend the night? Ishizu is on the warpath again."

"What did you do?" asked Ryou patiently.

"Put moths in her closet."

Ryou shook his head. Ishizu would definitely be mad at him for that. The phone rang and sure enough, it was her.

"_Tell my idiot brother if he comes back in less than two days I will hang him from his ankles over a spike pit!"_

"I will. Good luck cleaning your closet."

Ishizu growled as she hung up.

* * *

Bakura yawned, and didn't react when he saw Marik. Ryou had told him that Marik pranked his sister, and that was all he needed to hear. He stalked out of the house, intent on gaming some idiots before Ryou's cousin arrived.

He knew his host would take control more often to keep his secret. Though how he was going to pull that off when the kid was spending a few months with them, he had no idea.

Ryou woke up in an alley, and knew that Bakura had gone back to sleep. He went home, took a shower, and then went to bed himself. Once he realized that Marik had a habit of spending the night, he had purchased a bunk bed. Marik was snoring on the top, his leg hanging off the side.

He tugged on the pajamas that the Ishtars had given him for Christmas. Thankfully, they didn't have bunnies on them like his last pair.

For all the insanity he went through with Marik, the Ishtar clan was like his own family. He laid down and fell asleep almost instantly. He would worry about his cousin meeting his darkness in the morning...

* * *

**Harry POV**

He woke up and stretched. It took his mind a good five minutes to catch up to where he was. Once he was ready to get up, he got dressed in his favorite clothes.

Sirius had insisted on taking him clothes shopping once he realized that Harry had no clothes other than his school robes that could be worn. (Remus and Hermione had taken all of Dudley's cast offs and burned them.)

Now he had five pairs of blue jeans and ten shirts. Sirius would have gotten more but by then the security had realized something was off. They had paid for their selections and left before anyone realized that Harry and Sirius had been out of the house for more than an hour.

He opened the door, and noted that he was the only one up. Since he would be staying for a few months (and transferring to the local college that had magical and muggle courses available) he decided to make breakfast for everyone. Some habits were just hard to break.

It wasn't until he realized that someone was up that he bothered to look in the hallway.

The person standing there looked like Ryou, but it wasn't. For one thing, his cousin had hazel brown eyes, and this person had blood red. And his hair spiked worse than Harry's did on a bad day.

The man's eyes narrowed.

"Who the hell are you?"

Harry gave him an bewildered look. Fortunately he had almost finished cooking, because the only thing left was the toast.

"I could ask the same thing. You look exactly like Ryou, but I can tell you aren't him."

The man smirked.

"You must be the cousin he was so worried about. The one with that damn owl."

As if summoned by thought, Hedwig flew into the kitchen...after whacking the Ryou-look-alike in the head with her wing. He cursed, and went into the other room.

Harry put everything on the table and his eyes widened when he realized that the fake Ryou had returned with knives.

Before he could react, the man threw one at Hedwig!

Harry let his seeker instincts kick in, as he caught the blade by the hilt. The man was surprised, but not so shocked that he launched another one. Harry caught that one too.

"I will kill you if you hurt Hedwig," Harry snarled.

Marik yawned, and walked in on them. When he spotted the knives, he gave the fake Ryou a look.

"Thief, didn't Ryou tell you to leave the owl alone?"

"She started it," growled the fake Ryou.

"Morning Harry. I see you've already met Bakura."

"He tried to kill my owl," growled Harry.

"He always tries to kill her. I think he's still mad that she steals his bacon in the morning."

Harry gave his owl a look.

"Hedwig, didn't I ask you to behave while we were here?"

Hedwig hooted and turned her head in annoyance. The Thief had started this war, and she wasn't going to lose to him.

"What's with the knives?" asked Marik.

Harry nodded to Bakura.

"Ask snow white over here. He's the one who threw them."

Marik looked incredulous at Bakura.

"You _missed_ with your knives? Are you sick or something?"

"I _never_ miss, Keeper. The brat caught them."

As if to demonstrate his point, Bakura threw his last knife at Harry. Harry wasn't fazed, and caught it easily. The first two had surprised him, but he half expected the fake Ryou to throw the last one.

"Nice catch."

Harry shrugged, and put the breakfast on the table. Bakura gave him a calculating look, but sat down.

"Cheer up Thief, at least he knows how to cook bacon and sausages," said Marik, piling his plate up.

Bakura said nothing, but glared when Hedwig tried to steal his bacon...again.

"Hedwig, if you want some you can take it off of my plate. Leave him alone," said Harry firmly.

Hedwig flew to his shoulder and calmly began to help herself. Bakura look surprised.

The owl never let him eat his bacon in peace. It was like she wanted to piss him off.

"So what did you want to do today Harry?" asked Marik.

"I was hoping to explore the town with Ryou. But I suppose I could do it by myself if he's not here."

"What if you get lost?" asked Bakura, curious.

Harry shrugged.

"I can always call Hedwig. She would know how to get back."

Hedwig hooted smugly. Bakura glared at her.

"I think Ryou left early," said Marik.

"Ryou is running errands today. He won't be back until three," said Bakura shortly. Marik gave him an amused look.

"I could show you around Harry. But we might get locked out again. I left my keys at the museum," said Marik. It wasn't like he had anything better to do.

"I can always pick the lock. I just hope Ryou doesn't mind..." said Harry.

Bakura snorted.

"Ryou has picked the lock more times than I can count. I doubt he'll care," said Bakura. (Technically it had been him who picked it, but he wasn't going to tell the boy that.)

Once breakfast was done, Harry washed the dishes and left them out to dry. Marik handed him a helmet, and much to his amusement, Harry trusted him enough to get on.

He had no idea that Marik rarely obeyed the speeding limits.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry almost felt like kissing the ground when Marik finally parked. He was a maniac!

Once he could stand, he saw Marik, smirking.

"Where are we?"

"Kame game shop. This old man runs it with his grandson."

"So tell me Marik, is Bakura always like that or was it because of me?"

"I think he was just surprised to see you there so early. But you definitely made a good impression on him. So don't worry about it," Marik assured him.

He had seen the look of respect Bakura had for Harry. The boy could pick locks fairly well, took death threats in stride, and kept Hedwig away from his meat. Plus that stunt he pulled with catching the knives hadn't hurt in the least.

"So was he mad at me or the world in general?" asked Harry.

"World in general, though I think he hates your owl," said Marik after thinking about it.

"Why?"

"She always tries to steal his bacon in the morning, and it pisses him off."

"I'll see if I can get her to stop. I love my owl."

"Why are you not more freaked out about him? Most people run from him screaming."

Harry grinned mischievously.

"I have an insane madman who has wanted to kill me since I was a year old. How is someone who just majorly grumpy in the morning going to faze me?"

Marik choked on his laughter. He knew the teen would get along great with their group, but he didn't know how well!

Hearing the familiar laughter, a smaller teen came out.

"Hello Marik," said the boy with a patience of continued exposure to the rather annoying Egyptian.

"Hey Yugi. This is Harry."

Yugi held out his hand, and Harry shook it.

"New friend?"

"Kind of. He's going to be living with Ryou for a few months and I offered to show him around."

Yugi raised an eye at that.

"You're welcome to come any time Harry. We sell a lot of fun games, and even host tournaments from time to time."

"Sounds like fun."

"We should probably get going on our little tour. See you later Yugi."

Yugi looked doubtful about Harry being in Ryou's apartment. As soon as they left his sight, he called the gang. He had a feeling that they would need to rescue Harry from Bakura soon.

* * *

"What is it with Japan and weird hairstyles?" asked Harry as they walked. Marik snorted.

"I have no idea. But that is his _natural_ hair if you can believe it."

"I've seen Ryou. I can believe it."

"Before I forget, you're probably going to have a run in with the 'Friendship Squad' before long. Now that Yugi is aware that you're near Ryou, he'll try to rescue you from Bakura."

"Why?" asked Harry, wincing.

"Because Bakura is an insane Thief who loves blood and knives."

"So? What's that got to do with anything?" asked Harry, incredulous.

Marik stared at him.

"You really mean that? You don't have a problem with an insane knife wielding maniac near you?"

"Does he have an unfounded grudge against me or want to kill me personally?" asked Harry in return.

"Not unless you manage to really piss him off, no."

"Then I don't have a problem with him. So long as he leaves my owl alone anyway," said Harry.

Marik looked at him in shock. Then he shook his head in complete disbelief.

"Malik is going to love meeting you..." he muttered.

* * *

Ryou woke up around lunch, and realized with horror that Bakura was up and awake.

_/Ryou, why didn't you tell me that your cousin was already here?/_

Now he was afraid for Harry. It was obvious his darkness had run into him. He only hoped the boy came out alive and sane.

_/You didn't hurt him did you?/_

_/He's out sightseeing with Marik. I like him./_

That threw Ryou for a loop. Bakura rarely liked anyone. He barely tolerated Marik and Malik.

_/So he's okay?/_

_/He didn't really react until I threw those knives at that damn owl. And he got her to leave my bacon alone!/_

He breathed a sigh of relief. So Harry didn't hate his darker side. Or run away screaming. And Bakura didn't send him to the Shadow Realm. That was a good sign.

_/Relax yandoushi. I won't harm your cousin...yet./_

Ryou took control around three, and went looking for Harry. He had a feeling that he owed the boy an explanation.

* * *

Harry spotted Ryou before Marik did. He waved to his cousin from the cafe table. Marik returned with three large cones. Ryou sat down and looked anxiously at his cousin. Harry was either oblivious or didn't care about the fact that he had a run in with Bakura.

Harry looked at his nervous cousin and grinned.

"So Ryou, is there anything you would like to tell me? Like who exactly is Bakura and why he looks like you?"

That was so not how he expected Harry to ask about that. Something about his cousin made him open up, as he pretty much spilled out who Bakura was and the whole tale of the Millennium Items.

Marik said nothing, and instead enjoyed his ice cream.

Harry had long since finished his, and shook his head in disbelief.

"And here I was worried that we wouldn't be alike at all. We must be cursed to have interesting lives..." said Harry.

Seeing Ryou's confusion, Harry elaborated on why he was so eager to stay with a cousin he knew nothing about. When he was done, Ryou realized that he had more in common with his cousin than he had thought possible.

"So essentially you have a madman after you, an old goat who thought nothing of destroying any chances you had at a normal life, and a best friend who betrayed you when you needed him," said Ryou.

"Hey Harry, tell Ryou what you said about Bakura," Marik said eagerly.

"Which part?"

Marik grinned. Ryou suddenly looked nervous again.

"Well aside from having the worst case of morning grumpiness I have ever seen, I don't really have any problem with him. But can you get him to quit throwing knives at Hedwig? I don't want her to get hurt."

Ryou stared.

"You...don't have a problem living with an insane thief who loves blood?"

Harry looked at him dryly.

"My aunt and uncle weren't thrilled having someone with magic in their house. Compared to them, I think I prefer Bakura's company. Besides, you are definitely my favorite cousin."

Ryou sputtered. He never expected Harry to prefer Bakura to his other family.

"How bad were they?" asked Marik.

"I had to live in a cupboard under the stairs for ten years and did every chore. If they found a reason to punish me, they did, no matter how small the infraction. And my other cousin invented this annoying game called 'Harry hunting', which involved me running like hell trying not to get my ass kicked by his gang."

"Damn. No wonder you like the thief. At least he doesn't kill people unless they piss him off."

"Compared to some of the people I know, you two are relatively normal. Hell, I'm so used to abnormal things happening to me that I take it in stride," snorted Harry.

Ryou couldn't help his reaction. He started to laugh hysterically. Marik edged away from him, but Harry just patted his cousin on the back.

"Face it Ryou. Neither of us will _ever_ be normal," said Harry with conviction.

_/That's it. We are so keeping this kid!/_ Bakura cackled in Ryou's mind.

Ryou was quite sure the world was about to end...again.

* * *

It took poor Ryou a good day to get over the fact that not only did his cousin still like him, but that Harry actually got along with Bakura and Marik. Though he would swear on his _Change of Heart_ that they got along far too well for his sanity.

Then came the chaos of the movie night. Bakura had rented the movie '300' and Marik was starting to lose control of Malik again. Apparently his darker side was growing very bored and wanted out.

Ryou had woken up the next morning to find Harry sound asleep on Bakura's lap, Marik drunk off his ass on the recliner, and he was lying rather comfortably on the easy chair. Someone had put a blanket over him. When he looked at his cousin, he tried not to snicker.

Yugi, when he fell asleep once or twice at Ryou's place, looked like a lost puppy. Harry looked remarkably like an adorable kitten. One that had apparently attached itself to Bakura quite firmly. He had his right hand against Bakura's leg, and it wasn't letting go.

So he did what any cousin would do. He took a few pictures of the sight and woke up Marik. Who wouldn't stop giggling at the sight.

"Please for the love of Ra tell me we can use this for blackmail," snickered Marik.

"Only if you want Bakura to hang you from your ankles later," Ryou informed him.

"It would totally be worth seeing the look on Ishizu's face for that!"

Bakura, as if sensing that someone was talking about him, woke up. When he spotted Harry, his face had a rather interesting expression. Ryou took the opportunity to snap a few more pictures. He didn't know Bakura did poleaxed.

When Bakura carefully moved his leg out from under Harry's head, the boy finally woke up. He blinked repeatedly, not fully awake. He reached for his glasses, and didn't realize that Ryou had moved them to the table.

"Morning cousin!" said Ryou with false cheer.

"Ryou, either kill me or give me some caffeine before I murder you lot in your sleep," growled Harry. He was so not a morning person, especially since he had gotten used to sleeping in late.

In fact, once Harry learned that he would be the only one awake before nine, he had learned to sleep in. He had a hard enough time staying asleep with his nightmares...not that they had bothered him too much since he came to Japan.

It seemed constant exposure to Bakura was having a good effect on his nightmare problem.

Bakura grinned. He liked the way Harry worked. He only wondered how the boy would react to Marik's insane side, Malik. If how he reacted to someone like him, then the future looked positive.

Ryou handed his cousin some hot tea, complete with honey. Harry's growling died down as the caffeine to effect. He blearily looked around the room.

"Would someone mind explaining how I ended up in Bakura's lap?" he asked finally.

"You were the one who offered to sit with him," Ryou reminded.

Bakura grinned. Normally no one would willingly sit next to him during movie night. He tended to steal the popcorn. Though he had a sneaking suspicion that the owl had cleaned up his usual mess, since the floor was clean of any popped kernels.

Bakura and Hedwig had come to an agreement. She would leave his meat alone and not attack him on sight, and in exchange he would quit throwing knives in her direction and protect Harry if he spotted the boy in trouble.

It was a rather interesting arrangement.

* * *

Harry got up from one of his infrequent nightmares. He wondered how his day could have been so badly ruined. Then he remembered his run in with what Marik and Bakura had called the 'Friendship Squad'. And he winced from the memory.

He had thought Hermione and her SPEW campaign was bad.

Tea and Joey had been rather incredulous when they learned that he got along fine with Bakura and Marik. And when he finally met the Pharaoh, his only impression was that he was a tri-colored Malfoy with a god complex.

Though it hadn't helped when after ten minutes of meeting the man he had given him a spectacular black eye. Something about Yami Yugi just rubbed him the wrong way. (He had no idea that Bakura was in a nearby alley and had seen everything. It had taken all his willpower not to laugh himself into wraith form after seeing Harry clock the bloody pharaoh.)

Yami, once he recovered from the right hook, assumed that Bakura and Marik had brainwashed the boy to hate him. When Harry finally escaped, he ran into the one person he had yet to met. Seto Kaiba and his younger brother. They were out for a brother's day off.

Seto Kaiba had given him the once over, and upon seeing Yami walk up with a black eye gave Harry an appraising look.

"Your work?" he asked finally.

"I can't stand self righteous idiots who refuse to listen to the truth," said Harry calmly.

"Hn."

Harry walked away, not knowing he had made a favorable impression with the billionaire.

* * *

Harry sighed. He didn't like Yami, and he wasn't too sure about that other boy he met, but he seemed more reasonable.

Hedwig was out hunting, and Harry was still annoyed with how his day was shot by those meddling idiots. Then he realized the real reason he was annoyed.

He had just met the Japanese equivalent of his own friends. The brunette was Hermione, Joey and Tristan were the Ron and Percy, and the multicolored idiot...was himself.

When he considered how he viewed his cousin and his group, the view was much more favorable.

Bakura and Marik were the twins, with the peacemaker Ryou as Neville. It was no wonder he liked them more.

Ryou and the others left him to himself, allowing him some privacy but offering assistance only when needed.

Yami and the others would likely meddle with things when he didn't need them, and cause more problems than they would solve.

He realized with a start that was probably the reason he usually got on Draco's nerves. He acted like an idiot most of the time.

Time to do some damage control on that front. He was tired of dealing with Draco's nonsense every year.

Harry stretched, and decided to do a midnight snack raid. Much to Ryou's surprise (and great relief) Harry decided to contribute to the house by paying for all the groceries. Which meant that Bakura's whining about there being no bacon had finally come to an end.

As he ducked into the fridge, he heard someone else up.

_Who the hell is up at two in the morning?_

Curious, he watched as a very spiky haired Marik come out of the hall. Seeing the look in his eyes, Harry realized he was probably dealing with Malik.

"Hello Malik," said Harry, taking out a tub of leftovers.

Malik sneered. While he wasn't as fun to be around as Bakura, he was still very interesting.

"So you are the one my Hikari-pretty took a liking to."

Harry raised an eye at that.

_Hikari-pretty? Oh Marik is so going to be teased about that._

"So what are you up to?"

"Off to kill some people or destroy their minds."

Harry had an idea strike him, and he grinned evilly.

"Would you be interested in a prank instead?"

Malik looked at him closely, and then grinned cruelly.

"Do tell..."

* * *

Ryou turned on the news as he sipped his tea. And sputtered in shock.

"BAKURA! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE NOW!"

Bakura yawned. It was way to damn early to be up. (It was ten.)

But when he saw the news, all complaints went out the window. He stared...and started cackling like a hyena.

"_This is the scene in front of Kaiba Corporations main building. Mr. Kaiba arrived at seven this morning to discover Yugi Muto, King of Games hung up by his ankles and covered from head to toe in sparkle dust. Rescue workers are still trying to get him down from the Blue Eyes statue._

_Mr. Muto has no recollection of his assailant, and is relatively calm about the whole incident. Employees were startled to learn that Mr. Kaiba does in fact have a sense of humor, as they were alerted to the problem by his laughter._

_For more news this is..."_

Marik walked in, and yawned.

"What happened? Did Malik do something news worthy again?"

Bakura pointed to the TV, trying not to laugh too much. Someone had gotten the pharaoh good! Marik saw the news and shook his head.

"Malik got out last night. Do you think he had something to do with this?"

Ryou shook his head.

"I expect this kind of thing from Bakura, not Malik."

Harry walked in, saw the news and smirked.

"I did it. With a little help."

Ryou, Bakura and Marik all stared at him like he had a second head.

"_You_ did this?" said Ryou in complete shock.

"He annoyed me. Besides, I blame you for forcing us to watch _Twilight_ last night."

Marik eyed the sparkling midget and realized that he did look remarkably like the vampires from the movie. Closer inspection revealed plastic fangs.

Bakura howled with laughter. He patted Harry on the back in appreciation.

"How did you do it?"

Harry smirked.

"I had Malik hold the window open while I stunned him, then we dragged his ass to the statue. It was a pain getting him up there while he was out cold. Though I have no idea where he found that dust to cover him with. And to top it all off I put a sticking charm on that rope, which means he'll be up there for another hour or so."

"Malik helped you?"

Harry grinned at Marik.

"Yes he did, _Hikari-pretty,_"said Harry with a grin. He seemed to find the name funny.

And the name proved that Harry had in fact run into Malik. Only he called Marik that.

Bakura clapped his hands in amusement.

"Shall we go see the sight in person?"

Marik and Harry smirked. Once everyone was dressed they headed out to see Harry's handiwork in person. Bakura couldn't stop laughing as the charm came undone and Yami fell on his ass. It didn't help that he was almost completely naked aside from a pair of Dark Magician boxers.

Kaiba seemed to find the whole thing hilarious as well, since he was out there watching the spectacle. (And he already had his cameras trained on the scene. There was no way he was going to let the pharaoh live this down without a fight.)

When Kaiba saw Harry grinning like a loon, he knew exactly who was responsible. He nodded at the boy, who did the same. A show of respect among equals.


	3. Chapter 3

Yami was on the warpath. Someone had managed to get into his room, dragged him halfway across the city, and tied him up while he was asleep! And he had triple checked his room. There wasn't even a hint of shadow magic in it, aside from the usual watchers.

But there was a taste of unfamiliar magic. One he had never encountered before. It was faint, and would be gone in a day. He was almost tempted to ask Ryou for help, but after seeing Bakura he had a good idea how the person managed to break into his room and leave without a trace.

Alas, Yugi refused to let him torment the Tomb Robber for answers. It was so unfair!

To add to his indignity, it took four hours for the spell that actually held him up to wear off, and then he landed in such an unpleasant manner! He was so going to get back at whoever did this to him.

Then he saw Harry, the mysterious boy who lived with Ryou and got along fine with Bakura.

"Hello Harry," he said pleasantly.

"Did you enjoy the little joke?" he smirked.

A few things clicked into place at that moment.

One, Harry either knew who pranked him this morning or he did it himself. Two, the boy clearly had ties to magic in some way. And three, he needed to find out more about the boy.

Time to bug Kaiba.

* * *

Seto Kaiba wasn't happy to see the pharaoh in his office. He didn't mind Yugi, who usually only came in because his evil little brother asked him to, but Yami was just annoying.

Simply put, he thought the man could be taken down a peg or two. All those friendship speeches and the _'we have to save the world and you are going to help us whether you want to or not'_ bits got old real fast.

"What is it, you annoying pest?" he said bored.

"I need your help looking up someone."

"Who?"

"Ryou's new roommate Harry."

Kaiba knew the quickest way to get rid of him was to humor him.

"Full name?"

Yami looked stumped.

"All I know is that his first is Harry."

Suddenly a vortex of shadows appeared. Bakura stepped out.

"Huh...so the kid was right. You did go running to the dragon boy."

"What do you want thief?" demanded Yami.

Bakura smirked.

"Harry wanted to give you some help in looking up his past. His name is Harry Potter. Do you need anything else?"

Kaiba smirked.

"Birth date and general area of where he was born would help."

"July 31rst, he's about a year or two younger than Ryou, and he was born in England."

"That's all I need to get started."

Yami glared at him.

"How do you know all that?"

Bakura had an evil grin.

"He's Ryou's second cousin on his father's side."

Yami sputtered. He hadn't heard about that!

* * *

Bakura waltzed out of the office with a smirk. Harry was waiting for him below.

"How did the pompous ass take the news I was Ryou's cousin?"

Bakura cackled.

"He refused to believe it. I doubt he would take it kindly until Kaiba shows the records from the normal world."

Harry snorted.

"He won't find any after I turned eleven. That was when I started my not so normal schooling."

Bakura clapped his hands in glee.

"I can't wait to see how dear old Kaiba reacts to that news!"

Harry grinned.

"Care to help me shop for groceries?"

"Only if you bring me in on the next time you prank the idiot."

"Deal."

* * *

Yugi awoke to the sound of his Yami screaming in horror. When he ran into the room, he stared in shock.

The entire room was covered in frogs! Wall to wall frogs! And all of them were slimy and full of warts. His Yami was standing on his bed, trying to avoid them, not that he was having any luck.

"Yugi! Help!"

Yugi couldn't help his reaction. Someone had once again pranked Yami. At least this time they didn't hang him outside the Kaiba Corp office with nothing but his boxers and covered in glitter.

(Tea had cooed over that, because she recognized the way he had been decorated. She was an avid _Twilight_ fan.)

By morning they had finally gotten rid of the frogs...but the smell they left behind remained. After lunch Yami got a ladder and checked the lock...or lack thereof, on the window above his room. The next day there was a brand new lock on his window.

It still didn't stop the pranks. Two days after it was installed, his room was filled with locusts. And there was only one person he knew who used locusts.

* * *

"MARIK! GET OUT HERE NOW!" yelled Yami from the intercom.

Marik winced.

"What do you want pharaoh?"

"I know you filled my room with locusts last night! Don't deny it!" growled Yami.

"What the hell are you talking about? I was asleep last night!"

Yami didn't believe that for a moment.

Harry came down with a grin.

"Actually, Marik _was_ asleep last night. I should know, considering I woke up around three and saw him on the recliner. But I think Malik left the house around three thirty."

"I am going to kill him. First the frogs, and now those locusts!" said Yami, angry.

"Ribbit, ribbit," said Harry with a smirk.

Marik and Harry went back to their breakfast. Marik gave Harry a look.

"How the hell do you come up with this stuff?" he asked.

"I'm a second generation Marauder. My dad, my uncle and godfather all used to terrorize my old school with pranks for seven years. I think it's in the blood. Oh, and some of my friends happen to be called the Terror Twins."

Marik snickered.

"So when do you have to head back?"

"In four months..." said Harry sourly.

"Do you really have to go back? I mean we like having you around."

"Think Ryou would object if I decided to stick around longer?" asked Harry, curious.

Marik snorted.

"He likes having you around. You're the only member of his family who knows about Bakura and hasn't run screaming. His own father quit coming to see him when he found out. Though the way Bakura and Malik treat you is kinda creepy."

"How so?" asked Harry.

Marik stared at him in disbelief. The kid constantly surprised him by his ability to handle anything they threw at him.

"Two insane psychopaths walked up, threw their arms around you and begged us to keep you," he stated flatly.

"And?"

"And that didn't worry you that they had taken an interest in you?"

Harry gave him an amused look.

"Remind me to introduce you to Fred and George, and then we'll see who runs away screaming."

Marik shook his head. Ishizu wanted him at the museum today for some special exhibit. Then it hit him. He had never introduced Harry to his rather terrifying sister.

He smirked. Time to scare the boy for a change.

"You have classes today?"

"Nope. I'm free till Tuesday. Why?"

"Mind helping me with an exhibit at the museum? I could use someone to talk to."

"Why not. I've been meaning to visit it, but I never got around it to it."

Harry had tried to go, but once he spotted the rather frightening woman acting as curator, he ran the other direction.

Marik smirked and once they got ready, he dragged Harry to his bike. Harry had put up a rather impressive resistance to the idea.

"When I get my license I am going to kill you," he stated flatly.

"You can try."

Harry growled, but prepared to hold on for dear life. Marik unfortunately didn't have a side car on his bike. He claimed it was too old fashioned...and he couldn't hear the poor sods who rode with him screaming for dear life if they were in one.

* * *

Once they were at the museum, Marik showed Harry past the guards. They knew him well enough that he got in without a pass.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck went up. Someone terrifying was behind them. Both of them slowly turned, and saw a woman with long black hair and an annoyed expression.

"Marik...what have I told you about bothering the Pharaoh?" she said evenly.

"Hello Ishizu. Have you met Ryou's cousin?" Marik said quickly.

"Traitor," said Harry.

"Hello Harry Potter. I am Ishizu Ishtar."

Harry looked at Marik and asked dryly "Any relation to this nut job?"

"She's my older sister."

"Ah. I have to run now..." said Harry, trying to ditch Marik and escape the rather scary looking Ishizu.

Marik tightened his grip on his arm.

"You are not leaving me here alone with her!" he hissed.

Harry smirked. Last week he had gotten his apparating license a full year early. But seeing the look Ishizu giving him, he gulped.

"Want to bet?"

"You can handle being claimed by Malik and Bakura, but being around my sister scares you?" said Marik in disbelief.

"Clearly you haven't been around females long enough," stated Harry. He was terrified of Hermione for good reason!

Ishizu gave Marik a look.

"He was claimed? By two of the darkness?"

"Malik and Bakura have taken a real liking to him. And the pharaoh refuses to leave him alone."

Ishizu gave him an odd look. Why did Harry attract the Yamis?

Suddenly the air grew cold. Harry shivered.

Marik scowled.

"I thought the tombs were bad."

Harry heard someone screaming and drew his wand. He recognized the voice.

"Do either of you know the Patronus charm?" he asked, concerned.

"Harry, neither of us can use your magic. Ours tends to wreck it pretty quick," said Marik. Harry cursed.

"Well you better evacuate the place, because I am very sure that there are dementors around."

"What?" said Ishizu, concerned. The air was starting to grow very cold. Marik and his sister shivered.

It was right around then that Marik heard the sound of screams. He ran out to see what was wrong...only to be caught by a rotted hand. Ishizu went to protect her brother, but she was captured as well.

Both of them were helpless as the dementors lowered their hoods!

Harry tried to conjure up a positive memory. He wasn't going to let them be killed! Thoughts of Hermione and Ron flew away from him, even Sirius was no good.

Finally he focused on a movie night with Bakura. How he usually fell asleep in his lap for some strange reason. That feeling of safety enveloped him, as he shouted _"Expecto Patronum!"_

Two things erupted from his wand. Prongs...and a large white leopard. The two patronum struck the dementors squarely. Marik and Ishizu dropped.

Harry wasn't scared at that time. He was furious. He had hoped that he would escape his life in Japan...but someone had other plans. The leopard roared, and he could feel the sound of it's growl. The stag lowered it's antlers. They were waiting for something.

"Attack!" Harry cried.

The leopard pounced on the one that had attacked Marik. The remains of the cloak fell to the ground. The stag garroted the one that attack Ishizu. There were holes where the antlers had gone through.

Harry heard the dementors cries vaguely, as he began to pass out. Apparently he had trouble holding two patronus charms at the same time.

* * *

Ishizu came to in time to see Harry pass out. The stag walked over to him and touched Harry, while the leopard stood protectively over Marik. She would swear she had seen it before.

Then it hit her. That leopard reminded her a lot of Bakura. It looked at her and the two silvery being vanished.

Ishizu coughed, and rubbed her neck.

The thing that had grabbed them was horrifying. How had Harry known they were there?

_Harry..._

She looked. It seemed he had overused his magic. The sound of popping was heard, and she saw men in robes.

"Ma'am, are you alright? We had a report of dementors in the area."

She coughed, and pointed to Harry. The man checked his wand, and then noticed the two piles of cloaks.

"This kid is good. Not many fifteen year olds can cast a double patronus. Or keep his head in a crisis," said his partner.

The man came back and handed her something brown. It smelled like chocolate.

"This will combat the effects."

Marik groaned. He had come closer to the thing's mouth than she had.

The partner helped Marik up, before he handed over the chocolate. Both of the siblings were worried about Harry.

"_Enervate."_

Harry winced as he managed to sit up.

"Ow. I hate dementors."

The man laughed.

"Who doesn't except those crazy bastards in England?"

"Can you explain what happened?" asked his partner.

"I heard my parent's screams, and knew those damn things were nearby. I told Marik and Ishizu to get everyone out, but when Marik ran off, one of them grabbed him. The other grabbed Ishizu when she went to help him."

"I take it you've run into them before?"

"I've run into them a few times. First when I was at school and again during that damn tournament...though that was a boggart."

The man's eyes widened.

"You're Harry Potter! No wonder those things didn't stand a chance."

"I had a bit of trouble conjuring it. But after that it was easy."

"Our records indicate you conjured two."

"Normally I can only manage one. I have no idea why the other came out."

The partner handed him some chocolate. Harry ate it without question. He was able to sit up unassisted now.

Suddenly Ryou ran up to his cousin. He had heard what happened through Malik, who alerted Bakura.

"Harry, are you alright?"

"Fine. Just a couple of dementors... I wonder why they're here though?"

"Oh trust me, we are going to look into that. Especially since two of Egypt's tomb keepers were almost Kissed," the man assured him.

Harry looked at Marik and Ishizu.

"Tomb Keepers, really?"

"Dude, not now," said Marik. The chocolate had restored most of his mood.

"We'll just need your statements so we can start our investigation. And if those English give us a bullshit excuse, then we'll have to light a fire under their asses. No offense," the man said, remembering Potter was English.

"None taken. Though I would recommend lighting one anyway. Fudge will no doubt claim that they were rogue or some such nonsense, and no one will investigate in England."

The partner nodded sagely.

"Well, if you need any help, or anything like this happens again, here's our number and floo registration."

Harry nodded.

"Thanks. Japan is definitely more concerned about it's citizens than England is."

"Ain't that the truth. Last time one of our people went there, they were arrested for using magic in a department store. Idiots."

"So what exactly happened?" asked Ryou. The museum had been closed until the cloaks were discarded, and they doubted anyone would be coming for a few days.

"I was arguing with Marik when I recognized the feeling of a dementor nearby. Apparently he felt them too, because he ran to help the others escape. The only problem was that the damn things were right around the corner. One grabbed Marik, and when she (he nods to Ishizu) tried to help, the other grabbed her."

"Actually I heard screams as well. Though now that I think about it, they were probably the sound of people Malik has killed when he first came out," admitted Marik.

"So what exactly do these dementors do?" asked Ishizu.

"Well the first clue when they are around is the chill. Dementors suck all positive energy from the surrounding area. The second is when they come close to you. Then you re-experience all of the worst things that have happened to you. In my case it would be my parents death and a friend dying in front of me. Then things really get nasty..." said Harry.

"Dementors have the unpleasant ability to suck out a person's soul. They call it the Kiss. Essentially the poor victim is stuck like one of Pegasus' victims. Only there is no record of a recovery," said Ryou. He shuddered.

"So those things are worse than the Shadow Realm?" said Marik.

"Shadow Realm?" said Harry.

"Remind me to take you there sometime," said Ryou.

Ishizu shivered.

"Definitely worse."

"Is there any way to get rid of them?" asked Marik.

"The patronus charm is the only way I know of, and I had to blackmail my defense teacher in showing me how to use it."

"Why?" asked Ishizu.

"Because out of everyone at my school, I had the worst reaction to those wretched things. The first time I encountered one I fainted."

Marik didn't give him a look of pity. He patted his back though.

"After running into those things, no wonder. I'm just glad you knew how to get rid of them."

Harry looked sheepish. He wasn't used to praise, even when it was earned. Ishizu smiled at him, and he tried not to blush.

"In any case, I think we need to alert the others," said Ishizu.

"You can handle the Friendship Squad. We'll alert Kaiba," said Marik quickly.

"Fair enough. I think you three will have more trouble convincing him than I will."

Ryou gave her a smile.

"Oh I don't think he'll be as much trouble," he said.


	4. Chapter 4

Kaiba looked at them incredulous.

"You three want me to believe that you were attacked by things that suck out your soul?" he said in disbelief.

Marik growled, and pulled down his bandages. On his neck was a distinct bruise in the shape of a hand. There were very few things that could do that to someone like Marik.

"Does _this_ look fake to you?"

"It proves you were attacked, but not that something magical did it."

Harry sighed.

"What would it take to prove that magic is in fact real?"

Kaiba smirked.

"A living dragon. I will accept nothing less."

Harry grinned evilly.

"Any preference to nationality of the dragon, or will any kind do?"

Kaiba stared at him. Then he said "Any kind would work. I suppose."

Harry tried not to laugh.

"What would you do if you had a real dragon?"

"I would keep it of course. I like dragons."

Ryou and Marik burst out laughing.

"What?" asked Harry.

"To say he likes dragons is an understatement. Kaiba is _obsessed_ with the things," said Marik.

"Hmm... Could you use a dragon to guard something? Like a computer or the like?"

"I suppose. Why?"

"Because I know of a dragon that should have some good memories concerning humans. It will take them a while to ship it here though."

Kaiba smirked at Harry. He didn't believe that dragons were real...though he often wished they were.

* * *

Charlie Weasly read the letter in disbelief.

Someone wanted Norbert to guard something? And knew the dragon's name? When he read who had sent it, it made some sense.

Besides, the Norwegian Ridgeback often grew bored among the other dragons. He would go on rampages and only Charlie could calm him down.

So a request for Norbert wasn't met with much opposition. Harry said he would meet Charlie halfway so he could show him where to leave Norbert. The person who wanted him had enough resources to keep Norbert fed and healthy.

Harry grinned when he saw Charlie on Norbert. It seemed the dragon didn't have a problem with people riding him.

"Hey Charlie!" Harry called out.

"Hello Harry. How's the twins?"

"Annoying as ever. Haven't heard from them in a while though. How goes the dragon wrangling?"

"Fun as ever. So, where to?"

Harry lead Charlie to Kaiba's mansion, where Mokuba spotted them and gaped.

"Hey Harry. Is that..."

"Mokuba, meet Charlie Weasly. He's the nut job riding the dragon. And this...is Norbert."

The dragon bumped Harry affectionately. He remembered the boy with the kind aura.

Mokuba petted Norbert, and his eyes doubled in size when he realized that yes, there was an actual dragon in their yard.

"Can you bring out Mr. I-don't-believe-in-magic?"

Mokuba cackled evilly. He had overheard his older brother claiming if he saw a real dragon then he would believe that magic was real.

* * *

Seto Kaiba stared. There appeared to be a dragon on his front lawn.

"Ask and you shall receive. Norbert should be a good guardian of anything you want."

Seto Kaiba was many things. But a believer had never been one of them.

"Hello. Charlie Weasly, dragon tamer. Harry said you needed some help in guarding things?"

Kaiba finally remembered his manners.

"Yes. My name is Seto Kaiba. I could definitely use some extra security around here."

Charlie raised an eye and looked at the security around the estate.

"Seems like you have enough already."

Harry cleared his throat.

"Charlie, two Egyptian purebloods were attacked a week ago by dementors. I thought it would be a good idea to have some major back up in case they returned. I mean, dementors can't harm a dragon can they?"

Charlie's eyes widened.

"Dementors attacked someone here?"

"Two Egyptian Tomb Keepers. If I hadn't been there at the time they would have been Kissed."

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this?"

Harry shrugged.

They noted that not only did Kaiba have a way with dragons, but that Norbert seemed absolutely smitten with him. He was purring.

Mokuba was petting it too. Both brothers had a silly grin on their face.

Harry snickered.

"Kaiba told me he wouldn't believe in magic unless I produced a dragon."

"And he has magic?"

"It's a branch that doesn't get along with ours, but he has it. He just hasn't been willing to admit it until now."

Charlie grinned.

"He has good taste."

Charlie stuck around for a few more weeks, making sure Norbert was in good hands. He didn't need to worry. It was clear that Seto Kaiba had a love of dragons, because Norbert was on his best behavior. All they really needed was dietary conditions and a way to contact him if Norbert became ill.

He left, and immediately went to the Order to demand why he hadn't been told two pure bloods from an ancient line had almost been Kissed.

* * *

Dumbledore was not happy. Not only had Harry been involved in an incident, he had managed to cultivate allies in people who didn't like him.

He had no idea why the dementors were even in Japan. Or why Harry happened to be nearby.

The Tomb Keepers had never accepted his requests to see the tombs. They restricted him to the approved routes, and had threatened to seal his magic the last time he went to Egypt.

He knew there was a power in those sands that could prove invaluable against Voldemort. The problem was that the Tomb Keepers refused to tell him anything, let alone confirm his suspicions.

He would have to make another request through Bill to see the tombs.

* * *

Bill Weasly didn't know what to expect when Hedwig arrived. She had a letter specifically for him. And another for the twins. Fred and George cackled when they read the letter, and disappeared with twin cracks.

"_Dear Bill,_

_I'm sure your wondering why I am writing you and not Ron. The answer is simple. I have a few friends who would like to meet you and discuss a business proposition. These friends of mine happen to share the same love of Egypt that you do. I would recommend that you join the twins, so we can pick you all up at the same time._

_Harry."_

Dumbledore had made another request for Bill to approach the Ishtar clan. He took it in stride, but never actually bothered to do so. Ishizu Ishtar had been sympathetic when he told her that the only reason he was bothering them was because the old man had thrown a port key at them and told him he wasn't allowed to come back without an answer.

So he visited his twin brothers, who were preparing for a trip to Japan.

"Mind if I hitch a ride with you? I'll pay for my part."

Fred grinned.

"Relax, brother of ours."

"Harry already paid for a port key that was tuned for three people."

That surprised Bill. Then again, Harry was fond of most Weaslys. It was only Ron and Percy that he had a problem with.

Once they were fully packed for a few days, they touched the port key.

* * *

A few dry heaves later, and they found themselves in a muggle air port with Harry grinning at them.

"Welcome gents, to Domino Japan. I would have stolen a car for your things, but a friend was feeling generous for the dragon I helped him acquire. Would you like to get settled before we begin?"

Fred and George looked at Harry reverently. He had been sending them new prank ideas for months, and they sold like hot cakes during winter.

Fred and George loved the apartment, and had to be restrained from examining the TV and computer. Bill just gave his brothers a wide berth after they were introduced to Marik.

"Harry, I never knew you could be that cruel," said Bill. Harry gave him an odd look.

"Huh?"

"How could you inflict the poor, poor world with an Egyptian version of the twins?" Bill explained with a grin.

"Oh he's nothing. Wait till they meet Bakura and Malik. Those two are a well spring of pranks."

Bill winced. The twins were bad enough.

"Now as to the people you guys will be meeting..."

Harry explained about the general weirdness that surrounded them, and how they already knew magic. Fred and George had shook their heads, wondering how their adoptive brother could attract the strangest things. Though they did raise a few eyes at Norbert with Mokuba riding him.

"Charlie dropped him off a few weeks ago," Harry said as way of explanation.

"How is Charlie?" asked Bill.

"Pretty miffed that no one had told him two Egyptian pure bloods were almost Kissed by dementors. I managed to get rid of them, but it was pretty close."

"WHAT?"

Harry winced at the tone.

"Marik and Ishizu Ishtar were nearly kissed a month ago, and if I hadn't driven the damn things off they wouldn't be here. Fortunately, the Japanese Ministry didn't seem to mind that I got rid of them."

"Ishtar? As in the clan that guards the tombs?" said Bill in complete shock.

"My cousin happens to be a close friend of theirs, and he introduced me. Marik was going to show me the museum when we were attacked," Harry shrugged.

Bill shook his head. Trust the boy-who-lived to become friends with the most secretive clan in Egypt.

"Actually, come to think of it, they did mention you Bill," said Harry, remembering that odd conversation.

"Oh?"

"Ishizu said that she felt sorry for you, because you had to 'deal with the old goat in the castle', in her words. She also said that since you happen to be a friend of mine, she might let you investigate some of their tombs before they were released to the public. Apparently, the tomb keepers hold your work in high regard," said Harry.

That threw Bill for a loop. Behind him the twins grinned.

Seto Kaiba looked over Bill and the twins critically. After a moment they met his approval, at least enough that they could do business. Kaiba would use Bill's connections to Gringotts to expand into the magical world, and he would also invest in the twin's joke business.

He had already hired Harry to do some of his investment accounts, after learning the boy had a sixth sense towards it. Thanks to Harry, his games had really taken off. With Harry's connections to the magical communities, he would expand even further.

* * *

Two weeks later Bill left for Egypt. He was going to have first crack at a series of tombs that the Ishtar clan was going to allow public access. They were going to hire him to remove most of the curses for them, and possibly teach him a few new tricks to avoid the traps.

In the meantime, Fred and George would stay in Japan to start off their new shop. They would sell both mundane and magical pranks, though very few would be available without proof of magic.

Harry had grinned at that, because he was quite eager to introduce Marik and Ryou to the twins. The very thought made him cackle evilly enough to make Bakura run for cover.

* * *

"AHHH!" screamed Marik after being hit by the twins. Harry and the twins were laughing their heads off because of his reaction. It was rather amusing.

Ryou looked wide eyed, probably because Bakura had informed him that he would not help him in the least.

Harry had an evil grin on his face.

"I told him he would be running when he met you two," smirked Harry.

"I can't believe he was so scared of such a minor prank!" snickered George.

"Who's afraid of having pink hair for a week?" snorted Fred.

Harry felt sorry for his cousin, so he handed him a cupcake. Ryou reluctantly bit into it, and promptly turned into a large canary. His eyes flashed red.

"Hey Fred, isn't this the all day kind?" asked Harry.

Fred took a look.

"Yup. And it won't wear off until midnight tomorrow."

Harry smirked.

"Bakura, why don't you take this opportunity to make the baka pharaoh really, really paranoid?"

The canary took this under advisement, and proceeded to do just that. Harry took the opportunity to take a lot of pictures. Marik cheered up when he saw them.

* * *

Bakura and Malik were bored. In the last few months since Harry had arrived, they had been very amused. Especially when they were introduced to the Terror Twins. Those two would make them laugh without completely terrifying others. Well, almost without terrifying others.

In those months, the pharaoh had learned slowly that it was unwise to vex someone who had no issues with pranking others. Even if he had yet to figure out how Harry kept breaking into his room.

For some odd reason, even though he was magically inclined himself, Yami Yugi had no idea that Harry was a mage. The only person to have figured it out was Yugi, who assumed that his dark half already knew about it.

Then again, he dreaded to think what would happen if Harry ever found the shadow beast that represented his soul.

* * *

The shadows were stirring. Someone was close to finding the location of the tablet, and they intended to use it. The shadows kept trying to alert their master, but for some reason a light kept them from doing so.

Finally, they decided to alert the Seer, in hopes that she would at least be more receptive.

* * *

Ishizu sat up in shock. Her vision had startled her, she had not had any since giving up the torque. It was quite vivid.

_Why did it come to me and not the pharaoh? _

She knew she would be unable to sleep after that. So she got up to call her brother instead.

"_Moshi moshi?"_ it was Harry's voice.

"Hello, Harry. Is my idiot brother awake?"

"_No. Malik is, but he already left an hour ago."_

Ishizu cursed. Harry sounded impressed.

"Can you tell him that the shadows are stirring again? And that someone is after the tablet?"

She heard Harry writing it down. Apparently he wasn't fully awake.

"_Shadows stirring, tablet in danger. Got it. Anything else?"_

Ishizu smiled.

"Get back to sleep."

Harry yawned.

"_Sounds like a winner to me, night."_

* * *

"OH HELL NO! Not this crap again!" yelled Marik when he read the note Harry had written down.

Ryou winced at the volume and asked what was wrong. Harry yawned and told him about Ishizu's message. What Ryou said next had him looking at him impressed. He didn't know Ryou cursed that well.

"What's up?" asked Harry.

"Remember what I told you about the Millennium Items and all the nonsense we had to put up with because of them?"

"Yeah?"

"Someone is apparently trying to bring them back. And if that's the case, then it won't be long before the damn Ring comes back."

"But didn't you say that the pharaoh got rid of Zorc already?" said Harry.

"The Ring is a pain enough without him around," said Ryou in a whine.

"Malik will come out more with the Rod."

"You carry around a golden rod everywhere Marik?" leered Harry.

(Bakura who was awake, heard the comment and started snickering. So did Malik, who was cackling.)

"Shut it, Mr. I've-never-gotten-laid."

Harry snorted.

"Please, if I wanted some simpering moron to hang around, I'd act like the baka pharaoh. Then again, if I was really desperate I would ask Tea out."

Harry wasn't that oblivious. He had seen the predatory look in the girl's eyes. He just wasn't into simpering psychopaths.

The two winced. They could barely stand her when passing by her on the street. She had the strangest ability to sense whenever they were nearby.

"We'll just take it as it comes Ryou. Right now I have to get to work. Kaiba wants me to double check his figures for the next company."

"At least Kaiba and Mokuba are tolerable about all this," said Marik, drinking his coffee.

"He is a lot easier to handle now that he has a dragon to play with," said Ryou.

"Meh, so long as I don't force him to help me save the world, he doesn't mind my magic," said Harry.

Ryou and Marik snickered. Kaiba had become tolerable since Harry had convinced Charlie to bring Norbert.

* * *

Harry frowned. The reports didn't make much sense. So he double checked his calculations and realized that the earnings of the company didn't add up. Then he saw the name of the company and scowled.

"What is it Potter?" asked Kaiba calmly.

"I would suggest avoiding Grunnings. Their earnings and expenditure don't add up at all. I think one of their employees is siphoning off corporate funds."

Kaiba scowled.

"How bad is it?"

"There's a three hundred thousand difference," Harry informed him.

He cursed.

"Any idea where the main problem is?"

"Is this the same Grunnings that is based in Surrey?"

"Yes."

"I have a good idea where the problem is. I would recommend looking at Vernon Dursley."

Kaiba looked up from his computer.

"Where have I heard that name before?" he mused aloud.

Harry looked amused.

"I'm sure you've looked up my history for the baka pharaoh. Vernon Dursley was one of my...caretakers...until I was eleven."

"Ah. And why should I look into him?" asked Kaiba.

"Because I distinctly remember that tub of lard mentioning a new car when his performance has never warranted it."

"I'll have my accountants look into him."

Harry left the office decidedly cheerful. His cruel uncle was finally going to get what was coming to him, and it was all his fault.


	5. Chapter 5

Bakura and Malik were having a rather intense discussion. If Harry had been there he would have run for his life, since _he _was the matter of the discussion.

The two had just come from a rather informative talk with the Terror Twins, who seemed to adore the two psychotic spirits. Why that was, no one wanted clarified.

"So who tops?" asked Malik, intent.

"I do of course. I claim seniority on the matter."

"Point. So when can we have that _sandwich_?" asked Malik eagerly.

Bakura had brought this matter up to Malik after hearing that Harry had never had a romantic encounter before. Not even a kiss. And that, in Bakura and Malik's mind, would simply not do. Especially since the boy had brought them so much entertainment after the items had been sealed away.

Ryou, when he had learned of their plans, had protested rather violently.

"He's my cousin for crying out loud! He's off limits!" cried Ryou.

Bakura wagged his finger in amusement.

"Ah ah. He is off limits to _you_, my Hikari. I am not related to him by blood or spirit. Which makes him fair game to _me._"

Marik, who was listening to this argument with amusement, grinned.

"He has a point Ryou."

Ryou glared at Marik.

"Take his side and you will be going without for a month," he growled.

Marik smirked.

"Like that would matter to me at this point. Since Harry has come to live with you, I have been going without for months."

Malik appeared, and nodded.

"Hikari-pretty has been bored," said Malik.

Ryou threw his hands in the air.

"I give up! There is no reason here anymore!"

Bakura, Marik and Malik started cracking up.

"Ryou, since when have any of _us_ been sane?" said Marik, howling.

Ryou stalked out of the room, muttering under his breath. Then an idea hit him. If Bakura and Malik were going to go after his cousin, then he wouldn't make it easy for them. He was going to warn Harry.

* * *

Harry dropped his fork in shock.

"Bakura and Malik are _what_?"

"Both of them are going to make a move on you soon. They mentioned something about a sandwich, and frankly I didn't want to hear any more," replied Ryou calmly.

Harry paled.

"I've never been on a date in my life! How did they think I would react to their wooing me?" he nearly shrieked.

Ryou raised an eyebrow at that.

"You can handle being claimed as their property, but not on the off chance that they would take you on a date?"

"Ryou, the most romantic thing I have ever done is dance with a girl, and even then only because I had to! The girl ended up dancing with someone else after that!"

"So basically you're a blank slate in concerns to dating?" Ryou asked with surprise. Harry nodded emphatically.

Ryou shook his head in pity.

"Face it cousin. With those two wanting you, you are unequivocally doomed. It was nice knowing you."

"You are a cruel, cruel cousin," said Harry. Then he took a spoonful of his mashed potatoes and flung them into Ryou's hair. Ryou squawked indignantly.

Mokuba, who came in at the noise, ended up being hit with a cheese slice. It slid down his nose, and his eyes glinted evilly.

"Gentleman, you do realize this means war?" he smirked.

Ryou and Harry answered him with two spoons full of potatoes and corn. Seto Kaiba walked in half an hour later, and his eyes widened in complete shock.

Mokuba, Harry and Ryou were all covered in various foods, with Ryou having the most on him. Mokuba and Harry were pretty even.

"I don't want to know, I don't want to know..." said Kaiba, walking out and studiously ignoring the mess.

Until Mokuba and Harry nailed him with ice cream. It took exactly four seconds before he joined in on the fight. The poor janitor had to take a week off and got a raise for cleaning the resulting mess.

* * *

Harry checked around every corner before running. Bakura and Malik had made it pretty clear he wasn't going to get away from their plans...he was very, very determined to prove them wrong for as long as possible.

And his plan was working quite well...thanks to the twins. He bribed them with more prank ideas and the promise to let them join in a food fight with the Kaiba brothers for the canary cream recipe.

It was soon a common sight for Bakura to become a large angry white bird...not that he cared. He usually spent that time annoying the pharaoh, who had become convinced that he was being stalked by Big Bird. (Well, technically he would be right.)

Harry had almost made it to the apartment when suddenly a large black hole opened up beneath his feet. He couldn't stop in time, and fell through.

"What the bloody hell was that?" he asked aloud.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck rose up. Someone or something was behind him. Slowly he turned...and came face to face with a smug Bakura and Malik.

"I told you a small portal would do the trick," said Bakura with a smirk.

"Um...guys? Can we talk this out?" said Harry slowly. He wanted to run, but there was no where to run to.

"Oh no...you owe us. Do you have any idea how long you've kept us waiting Harry?" said Malik. His eyes looked hungry.

Harry gulped. He didn't mind Bakura and Malik normally...but the look in their eyes terrified him. He was way out of his league, and he damn well knew it.

* * *

Ryou found Harry in his room, cowering under the bed. He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"They finally got you, I take it?"

Harry nodded miserably.

"Sorry. I told them the only way they'll ever manage to catch someone who is used to running is to do it by surprise. How bad was it?"

Harry shuddered.

"The only thing they didn't do was take advantage of me," he whined.

Ryou snickered.

"Starting to regret coming to live with me?"

Harry shook his head.

"Not on your life! Better here with a pair of evil nut jobs than back home with one nut job and an interfering old goat who won't leave me alone!"

Ryou chuckled, and managed to get Harry out from under the bed. Marik looked in on him with sympathy.

"Look at this way. At least they're willing to wait until you're ready before they really pounce on you."

"And at least it's not the pharaoh or Yugi doing the pouncing," said Ryou.

Harry made a disgusted sound.

"If I wanted a partner, I would like to be able to see them at eye level without squatting down!" said Harry firmly.

Marik cackled.

"Aren't you shorter than Ryou though?"

"By two inches, and I was still taller than Yugi _or_ Yami!" Harry informed him coldly. Which set off Marik anyway.

Harry growled, annoyed.

"Cheer up Harry. Perhaps some save-the-world nonsense will pop up and Bakura will forget you for a few weeks."

"What about Malik?" asked Marik smirking.

Ryou grinned.

"Bakura claimed seniority on him, so he wants first dibs," snickered Ryou. Harry paled.

"I'm doomed."

* * *

The tablet was uncovered...and before the more powerful items could be taken, six golden streaks flew into the night. The Death Eater cursed. His master wanted at least three of the items, and now they only had one.

* * *

Harry woke up to something poking him in the side. He rolled over, only to find that whatever it was, it was freezing cold and pointy!

He sat up with a start, and decided to have a snack before he even thought of looking at what had woken him up at...he glared at the clock.

Three forty-five in the morning.

Once he reached the kitchen, he heard squawks of surprise from Ryou and Marik. He sipped his chamomile tea.

They stalked into the kitchen looking very annoyed.

"I knew the damn thing would show up! I just knew it!" growled Ryou. Harry had to double check that it was his cousin. He sounded exactly like Bakura just then.

"You think that's bad? How would you like it if the damn thing dropped on your head?" snarled Marik.

Harry sat in silence as the two grumbled.

"What happened?"

"Two items dropped in unannounced. The things are freezing!" said Ryou angrily.

Harry calmly walked into his room, reached under his covers and found the thing that had awoken him. He didn't bother to look at it, and instead dropped it on the table.

"Is this an item?"

Both of them stared in shock. Harry had received an item as well.

"That's the Millennium ankh," said Marik.

"I thought that creepy Shadi had it."

"It was poking me and woke me up," yawned Harry.

Marik and Ryou shook their heads.

The phone rang, and they threw their hands on the table. Harry and Ryou had paper, while Marik had a rock. He cursed and answered the phone.

And winced.

"It's Yami. Apparently he nearly stabbed himself with the puzzle."

"What about Ishizu?"

Marik hung up the phone, and two minutes later she called them.

"Hello? Huh, you didn't get it? I wonder who did. We have three here sis. Which ones?"

Marik looked at Ryou. Ryou wrote them down on a small piece of paper and held it up.

"Scales, Ankh and Ring. Yugi just called and they have the puzzle back. Which means that there is a high chance that the Rod and Tauk are loose somewhere else. We'll call you if they show up."

Marik hung the phone up, and a full minute later someone called again. This time it was Kaiba, and he sounded very pissed off.

"Hello Kaiba. Oh, you have the Rod? That's a relief. Which means only the Tauk and Eye are missing now. Don't yell at me! We were asleep when they dropped on us. Yeah, all three of us have at least one. Yugi has the puzzle too."

Harry and Ryou could hear Kaiba scowl.

"Yeah, we'll try to keep you in the loop. Night."

Marik turned to them with a grin.

"The Rod dropped on top of Kaiba while he was fixing a bunch of errors in his new duel disk. He sounded pissed."

Harry laughed.

"So what exactly do ours do?" he asked.

"Well yours has the ability to unlock and lock anything. You can even enter other people's soul rooms," said Marik.

"Soul rooms?"

"Everyone has a place inside their soul that is theirs. For example, I've found out that Tea has a room like a ballerina studio," said Marik.

"How do you know that?"

"I was stuck in her for several days, and I was inside her room the entire time."

"Ah."

"Yugi and I have two rooms. One for us and our Yamis," said Ryou.

"So what do yours do?"

"Mine can judge people based on the purity of their soul. The more honest they are, the less chance they have of being eaten."

"Eaten?"

"By Ammit, the one who devours all evil souls," said Marik.

"So how does it work?" asked Harry.

"Basically I summon a feather, usually white. Then I ask a series of questions, things that most people would do in certain situations. If the scales tip with the feather going up or down, then the soul is evil. But if the scale remains balanced, and the feather doesn't go either way, then the soul is a good one and may pass on."

"Is that how it works in Egyptian mythology? I seem to remember something like that in the folklore."

"It's based off the Book of the Dead. All souls must be judged by Anubis. Those that fail the test get sent to Ammit, a fearsome beast from the underworld," said Ryou.

"And you were given the scales? The town is doomed," said Harry with a straight face.

Ryou snickered, and Marik scowled.

"I used to own the Rod. It has the power to create a secondary soul, and possess people."

"What about you Ryou?"

"The Millennium Ring's primary power is to locate things. The five daggers on the bottom point in the direction of what you want to find. The brighter the glow, the closer you are. It also had Bakura," said Ryou sourly.

"What about the others?"

"The Eye has the power to read people's minds and seal souls into things... Last time it was used to put souls into cards. The Tauk can see into the future and the past. The Puzzle was mostly used to seal the pharaoh's soul, and create a portal into the Shadow Realm," said Marik.

"So far we know where the Rod, Ankh, Ring, Puzzle and Scales are. How bad would it be if someone got a hold of the other two?"

"Well the primary problems are the Rod, Ankh, Ring and Puzzle. The Scales, Tauk and Eye aren't nearly as bad by themselves. So at least we have the main ones in our possession," said Marik.

Harry winced.

"Do all the Items have the power to summon the Shadow Realm?"

"Well the Puzzle has the best track record with that, but the other ones have enough power to pull it off on a small scale," Ryou commented.

"If the Death Eaters or worse Voldemort got their hands on them, then we would be in serious trouble."

"Well the Eye isn't nearly as bad as the others, and someone would have to already have Seer's blood in order to use the Tauk properly."

"Five of the seven isn't nearly as bad as I would have hoped," said Ryou.

Harry let out a loud yawn. He was so used to waking up at random times in the night, that he took it in stride. He would always make some light tea with honey, then head straight back to bed. It was a system that worked great for him.

"I'm going back to sleep. Night."

"Night Harry," said the two in unison.

* * *

The Ankh kept poking him in the night. It was quite irritating. Finally he put it in his pocket and it left him alone.

Harry woke up with a growl. He did _not_ like having the cold metal wake him up repeatedly.

Marik and Ryou were no better.

"Is it just me, or did the items become pushier than normal?" asked Marik.

"Its not you," said Harry, trying not to snap at him.

"We may as well see the Pharaoh. He is the one in charge of the Shadows," yawned Ryou.

* * *

Yami was in a foul mood. His Puzzle had acted up as soon as he put it on. It kept him awake the entire night!

Then he noticed to his shock that Harry had gotten an Item.

"Which one did you get?" he asked weakly. Inside he was seething. He wanted to kidnap the boy with no escape in sight. How was he going to do that when he had an Item as well?

Bakura smirked.

"He has the Key, if you must know. And don't even _think_ of trying to snag him. We already claimed first dibs," said Bakura.

Malik smirked. Yami and Yugi gaped.

"Since when do you two like people enough to claim them?" asked Yugi finally.

Bakura scowled.

"We like plenty of people. We just can't stand you, for obvious reasons."

"Yeah, and the stuck up attitude doesn't help much either," quipped Malik.

"Does this mean none of them can hog tie me in the Shadow Realm again?" Harry asked Ryou.

"Not without somehow binding your magic or snagging the Key first, no," said Ryou amused.

Marik grinned. It was rather funny hearing Harry talk about what he was going to do to the Yami's if they ever succeeded in snagging him. Some of his ideas were rather amusing.

Kaiba walked up with a scowl.

"I take it that the madness will begin again?"

"Kaiba, you may as well face facts. Wherever I go, strange things follow," said Yugi.

"Actually, that fact is true of me as well," admitted Harry.

Kaiba looked between them.

"Let me make one thing clear. I will _not _assist the pharaoh again. However, if Harry asks, I will consider helping him out."

"What the hell does that mean Kaiba?" growled Yami.

"It means you are an arrogant ass who drags him into your mess whether he wants to or not. You do realize half the time Mokuba is kidnapped it's usually _your_ fault in some way?" said Marik.

"Whereas I usually try to keep people out of my mess. And for some reason I fail dismally," said Harry, entirely too cheerful of the matter.

Bakura snorted.

"My guess is that people are more fond of you than you realize."

Once the impromptu meeting about the Items was over, they went their separate ways. Marik, Harry and Ryou went to the museum so they could try and figure out where the Tauk was. Kaiba went back to work to inform his little brother that he would be getting another bodyguard, preferably one who could use normal magic. Yugi and Yami went to attack Kaibaland, and were kicked out within two hours.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry yawned. It had been a week since he had gotten the Key, and so far he was progressing at a slow rate in learning Shadow Magic. Bakura was at least patient with his new student. Much to the surprise of both Ryou and the pharaoh, Bakura was actually a very good teacher.

Most of what he taught Harry stuck...though frankly the boy would blame that on his methods. Bakura had an unnatural ability to scar Harry for life while showing him how to perform Shadow Magic.

Yami was on a mission. While Kaiba had managed to get plenty of information about Harry (almost none of it was pleasant), he had no idea how to get the boy on his side. It was like after he turned eleven, he simply vanished! And then there was the matter of his friends, the twins.

Both of them were magicians, yet they seemed to remind him too much of Bakura and Malik in a mischievous mood.

So now he was off to bug Ryou to learn more about his cousin.

(Ryou, having sensed this through unknown means, immediately went to Ishizu and offered to help around the museum in exchange for sanctuary. While she was loyal to the pharaoh, she had the innate ability to terrify any male that crossed her path.)

* * *

Harry was not in a happy mood. Why?

The pharaoh had succeeded in pissing him off. And he had help too. The infamous friendship otaku, Tea Gardener, had finally managed to corner him and gave him a _four hour_ long spiel about friendship and why he should join their team.

After the end of her rant, he did the only sane thing he could do.

He told her point blank about how the person he considered his best friend and brother had betrayed him, and ever since he had become much more guarded about who he trusted. Ron had left a rather nasty scar in his heart, and while he had tried to forgive the boy, he had never truly forgotten the depth of his betrayal.

Tea had been left speechless at that, and Harry made good his escape.

Alas, that had only inflamed her desire to get Harry to join what Malik and Bakura had called the 'Friendship Squad.'

So he went to work and asked Kaiba quite nicely for assistance in acquiring something.

A flamethrower.

"Why exactly do you need a flamethrower?"

"I'm going to give it to Bakura so he can torch Tea's house."

"What did she do?" asked Kaiba, amused by the idea.

"Forced me to listen to a four hour long rant on friendship...and then tried to get me to join their team."

Kaiba winced. Tea was bad enough in _small_ doses. Four hours of that would make him want to commit seppuku with a blunt blade.

"Unfortunately for the friendship freak, I did have best friends back in England," snorted Harry.

"What happened?"

"One turned traitor and claimed that I was only in a tournament for the fame and glory. The prize money was pretty big, so that didn't help either. It took him months before he came skulking back for forgiveness. He didn't seem to care that I had never actually entered my name, or that I was forced to participate against my will," answered Harry.

"I amazed you were willing to deal with people after that."

"I have tried to forgive him, but I will never forget what he did. Probably why I was so eager to meet my mysterious cousin that my godfather mentioned in passing."

"And look where that got you," said Kaiba in amusement.

"Still better than dealing with a traitorous jerk and a pushy know it all."

Kaiba nodded in agreement.

"I don't think I can get you a flamethrower just yet. Those things are still hazards."

"Damn."

Then Kaiba smirked.

"But I can get you a restraining order on the twit."

"That'll work."

* * *

Bakura was both amused and disappointed when he learned about Harry's conversation with Kaiba.

While he found the fact that Harry had a restraining order on Tea hilarious (and wondered why he hadn't thought of that one himself) he was a bit disappointed that he didn't get a flame thrower.

So Harry did the next best thing. He helped Bakura get a wand and proceeded to show him how to shoot fire from it. Bakura was extremely pleased about that, and wouldn't stop cackling for weeks.

Which had the pharaoh avoiding him like the plague, to his delight.

* * *

_Back in England..._

Things had taken a turn for the worst. Suddenly the Death Eaters became much more active, and the rumors that Voldemort had in fact returned seemed much more real to the general populace, despite the attempts made by Fudge to quell them.

And to make a bad situation more horrific, the Death Eaters had a new trick up their sleeve.

They were summoning monsters. From the grotesque to the terrifying, these monsters would attack muggleborns without question or care.

The only good thing was that it took the Death Eaters several weeks before they could bring them out again. Summoning the beasts took more magic than they were used to.

In a last ditch effort to get help, Sirius did the only thing he could think of.

He owled Harry in Japan. His godson had mentioned off hand about the strange magic Ryou and his comrades had. Perhaps they could help them...or at least keep Voldemort from wiping them completely out by offering a place to hide.

* * *

Harry read Sirius' letter in shock. The things he described sounded far too much like Shadow monsters for it to be a coincidence.

Ryou looked disturbed about the news as well.

"What are we going to do?" asked Harry.

"I have no idea. If we go there alone, it will only make it worse. Particularly if these people got a hold of the Items and learned how to use them."

Harry nodded in agreement.

Marik was gone for something related to his clan with Ishizu, and Kaiba was away on business. The only people who could help them were the Friendship Squad, but after Harry had slapped that order on Tea they were less than friendly with him.

Even though he had explained his reasons, they were still angry over that.

Harry slumped in the recliner. When he brushed his hair out of his face, he felt his body suddenly go stiff.

His eyes became glazed over, and he couldn't hear Ryou cry out in shock.

His mind went flying out of his body.

* * *

_He was in England. He could tell that much at a glance. The house he was floating over was fairly normal for a wizard dwelling._

_Well, except for the fact that it was currently in flames. The Death Eaters cackled in cruel glee as the place went up into ashes._

_Harry tried to look for the occupants, who were missing. Then he saw them. And his heart nearly broke._

_It was Luna Lovegood...and a man who was obviously her father. They were hiding in the woods, watching in mute sadness. Harry didn't know why he was watching their house be destroyed...until he spotted something glinting gold around Luna's neck._

_He gasped._

_It was an Item. And there were only two that were missing, so it had to be the Tauk. Luna seemed to look up and see him. Her dreamy gaze was sad._

_'Hello Harry.'_

* * *

He was jolted out of the vision by Bakura slapping him.

He coughed, as if he could still feel the flames on him.

"What happened?" asked Bakura. His voice sounded uncharacteristically concerned.

Between coughs, Harry said "I found the Tauk. It's in England."

The effect of that statement was instantaneous. Bakura looked in shock as Ryou stared in disbelief.

"Who has it? And what the hell just happened?" Bakura asked.

"I know who has it. It's a girl from my old school named Luna. And her house was just destroyed by Death Eaters. I saw it as if I were there."

"Are you absolutely sure?" asked Ryou.

"Ryou, I could literally feel the flames that engulfed the house. I am positive. And she could see me."

"I'm calling Ishizu. Harry, just stay there and rest," said Bakura.

Harry knew he would get no sleep that night. Not after that vision.

"_Hello? Is Ishizu Ishtar there? What the fuck do you mean I can't speak to her? Tell her it's Bakura! I don't give a flying fuck about your damn protocols, get her on the phone now dammit!"_

Harry smiled. At least Bakura was back to normal.

Bakura growled...then waited impatiently for the woman to get on. Ryou watched his cousin in concern. Without realizing it, Harry fell asleep...

* * *

_Somewhere in Luxemburg..._

_He was pleased and frustrated at the same time. His minions were able to summon the beasts, but it took too long to bring them out again._

_He had thought that the girl with the gold necklace would...assist them...but she had fled the pathetic house with her wretched father before they had even arrived. His pawns had taken great delight in killing the house elves and burning the house._

_Now he would have to hunt down the other five. And possibly the brat who had defied him for far too long._

_He chuckled darkly. The boy would not live after what he was going to do to him. He turned to the lone mirror in the room. His new...accessory...suited him nicely. A single gold eyes stared back at him with a malevolent glow..._

* * *

Harry sat up with a start. That was far more vivid than the last one. Bakura was still on the phone, and Ryou was looking at Harry in concern.

He looked at them with an upset gaze.

"Tell her that both of the missing items are in Europe. Voldemort has the Eye."

Bakura cursed. Suddenly the phone came to life. Finally someone answered.

But it wasn't Ishizu who answered, but Rashid.

"_Master Marik and Ishizu are in a meeting with the clan. What's going on?"_

"The Eye and Tauk have been found. One is in the hands of a Zorc wannabe and the other is in the possession of an inexperienced Seer."

The silence on the other end was palpable. Finally, Rashid told him to wait a moment before Marik came on.

"_Are you sure? You've found the remaining two?"_

"Harry had a pretty good vision of where they were. So either he was hallucinating...or we have a serious problem."

Harry snorted from his spot.

"If that was a hallucination, then the pharaoh is not a narcissistic asshole."

Bakura snorted in amusement.

"_We'll be on the first flight back. Better alert the Friendship Squad."_

"Like hell. They would only try to get in our way. Besides, they aren't talking to us at the moment."

Harry and Ryou heard Marik's disbelieving remark. Bakura chuckled evilly.

"Harry slapped a restraining order on the friendship whore."

"_It's about time someone did. We'll be there soon."_

* * *

Harry picked up his cell and hit the speed dial. He wasn't going to ask Kaiba for help. He was just going to warn him to avoid Europe until things settled down.

"_Hey Harry, what's up?"_ asked Mokuba.

"Hey Mokie. Is your brother there?"

"_Yeah, he's hashing out some details with a few prospective investors. We're almost about ready to head to Ireland for a meeting."_

"Cancel it."

"_Why?"_ said Mokuba, clearly surprised.

"The resident dark lord of the magical community has gotten his hands on the Millennium Eye, and his lackeys have been summoning beasts from the Shadow Realm. I would avoid Europe for a while, at least until we can get that thing away from him."

Suddenly the voice changed. Kaiba had taken the phone from his brother.

"_Harry, what's this about canceling my conference to Ireland?"_

"Resident nut job has the Eye, and he's using it's powers so his lackeys can summon monsters. Unless you want to deal with that crap, I would suggest you do a teleconference instead."

Silence...then...

"_Are you absolutely sure he has the Eye?"_

"I wouldn't warn you against Europe unless I was very sure. I just thought you would appreciate a heads up about it."

"_...Thank you for warning me. I wondered why none of my colleagues would explain why Europe has had difficulties for the past two months."_

"Glad to be of help."

Ryou popped his head in, annoyed.

"I thought I said to take it easy?"

"Just warning Kaiba and Mokuba about Europe. I didn't want them to get caught up in this mess if they could avoid it."

"He's probably surprised that anyone thought to call and warn him. Usually the pharaoh just drags him into it right after Mokuba would be kidnapped," said Ryou.

"How often does that happen?"

"Often enough that it has given him a reason to despise all things magical."

Harry leaned back on the bed. He had been reading when he remembered to call him.

A few hours later, his cell went off. The tune alone told him it was Kaiba.

"Yo."

"_I suppose I should thank you for the warning. The place where the conference was to be held was just attacked. There aren't any survivors."_

Harry sat up in shock.

"What happened?"

"_I told them that something had come up and that I would speak through the web cam. About an hour into the talks the line suddenly blanked out, but I could hear screaming. Then it went dead."_

"Yikes."

"_Oddly enough, I heard someone talking about the Items before the line was cut off."_

"Death Eaters. Voldemort must have known you have the Rod, and sent them to take you and Mokuba."

"_We're heading back. We'll be at the air port in two hours. I'm not risking Mokuba's safety over some arrogant investors."_

"Got it. Bakura will meet you there."

"_Meet us at the mansion instead. I want answers."_

Harry got up and went into the living room. Bakura and Ryou looked at him with annoyance. He was supposed to be resting!

"Kaiba is coming back. The place where he was supposed to have a conference with investors was attacked by Death Eaters looking for the Items. We're going to meet him at his mansion in three hours."

"Marik and Ishizu were attacked at the air port. Fortunately the guys who were there were pretty bad at using their summons, but they were both injured. Marik said he was going to get his Ghouls back. We're going to need his lackeys," said Bakura.

"Marik had goons?" said Harry, surprised.

"If you want to get technical, it was Malik at the time, but yes," said Ryou.

Harry shook his head in disbelief.

"How bad were they hurt?"

"Bad enough that Marik has his leg in a splint," said Bakura sourly.

"I'm going to make a few calls."

Ryou looked amused.

"Haven't been doing that already?"

"True," chuckled Harry.

* * *

_At Kaiba's mansion..._

Kaiba, while not happy to have yet another save the world prophecy in play, was at least in a better mood than usual. For once, the person who was involved in the whole mess hadn't dragged him in unwillingly.

And his brother was definitely safe from harm. Kaiba had sent him straight to Yugi's shop. As far as the Friendship Squad was concerned, there was an assassin after the Kaiba brothers, and he wanted Yami to protect his little brother.

They bought the lie hook line and sinker. They didn't suspect a thing.

"So what exactly does this Voldemort want?" asked Kaiba.

"As far as I can tell, to kill anyone without magic. He seems to think that normal people aren't worth the waste of space. Aside from that, I have no idea."

"And from what you know he has the Eye."

Harry tapped his scar with a scowl.

"This wretched thing links me to him. The first vision I was floating above the attack, the second time I _was_ Voldemort. He happened to have a mirror in the room at the time."

"Great... Another save the world prophecy," grumbled Kaiba.

"You think I want to deal with this shit? The bastard killed my parents and then proceeded to come after me repeatedly to kill me!"

"How old were you?" asked Bakura, curious.

"Eighteen months, eleven, twelve and he finally succeeded in coming back into a physical body when I was fourteen."

Bakura held up a hand in disbelief.

"Wait, didn't you say you started that school at eleven?"

"Every time I faced him it was the end of the year."

"What kind of amateur are we dealing with here? I mean come on, who takes four tries to kill someone and fails?"

"If it makes any sense, the idiot always tries to use the same curse each time. Though the third time I faced him he used a big ass snake."

"That's no excuse! You were barely trained, and this idiot couldn't manage to kill you when he has a large arsenal of spells?"

"He's got an ego the same size as the Pharaoh's," said Harry dryly.

"So just to be clear, there's an pathetic madman with a Millennium Item and a god complex," said Kaiba.

Harry nodded.

"Should be cakewalk then," said Bakura, cackling.


	7. Chapter 7

Marik was not a happy camper. While the Japanese Ministry had healed their wounds without a trace to show for it, he was still stuck with telling the Friendship Squad that they were heading to England for a while.

If that didn't draw their attention like flies, nothing would. Damn Ryou and Harry for rigging that game of Jen Kan!

(To be fair, Ryou and Harry both threw rock while Marik had thrown scissors. He just had crappy luck.)

* * *

Yami calmly leaned on his broom. Yugi, in a fit of annoyance had thrown him outside and told him to sweep the front out. It wasn't his fault that Tea had upset Mokuba!

"Hello Marik. Come to taunt me?" he said dryly. He wasn't in the mood for the Egyptian at the moment.

"Unfortunately no. I just came to ask you to water the plants in Ryou's apartment."

Yami stared at him.

"And where is Bakura going now?" he asked, curious.

Marik thought fast. Depending on how he answered, Yami might just follow them.

"There's been a death in Harry's family. His aunt died, and Ryou is taking me along with them," said Marik.

_/Nice save, Hikari-pretty./_

_/As far as I know, Harry could care less if the Dursleys actually died. So even if my words end up being true it won't bother him./_

"And how do you three plan on getting to England?"

"Kaiba has a business trip down that area, and he actually likes Harry. So he's giving us a free ride."

That made enough sense to the Pharaoh. He waved Marik off, never wondering why Ryou wanted someone like him to water his plants. Had he thought about it, he would have remembered that Ryou didn't actually _have _any plants to water.

(He naturally forgot about the whole thing, deciding to spite the three for the stunt they pulled on Tea. He could care less if Ryou's supposed plants died.)

* * *

"So how did the little godling take the news?" asked Bakura, bored.

Harry happened to be packing everything for them, and was in the room when he heard how Marik told the Pharaoh they were leaving the country.

"I told him that Harry's aunt died and we were going to her funeral," said Marik grinning.

Harry nearly dropped the suitcase on his foot. He stared at Marik incredulous.

"You _what_?"

"I figured with the way they treated you, you wouldn't be that concerned whether or not my lie turned into a truth," Marik shrugged.

Harry was about to contest that fact...then he shut his mouth. Marik was more or less right. So long as there was nothing he could have done to prevent it, he wasn't going to lose any sleep over the Dursley's deaths.

"Did you mention the Tauk and the Eye?" asked Ryou.

"Hell no. I just asked him to water your plants while we were away."

"I don't have any plants to water," said Ryou with a raised eye.

Marik crowed.

"Exactly! The chances that he would catch on to the lie are slim to none, at least for a few weeks! And with the sap story of helping Harry to get over his grief over the supposed death of his aunt, there's little chance that they'll follow us!"

"Then why didn't you tell him we were going to Egypt?" asked Ryou.

"On the off chance that we get into serious trouble, he would need to know which country we were in," shrugged Marik.

Harry grinned.

"Sounds like a plan. You guys got your backpack ready?"

"You packed them," Ryou pointed out.

"Yup. I got everything that would make our stay a lot better. For Bakura I put in several pairs of clothes that are easy to get blood out of, as well as at least twenty knives of varying lengths."

Bakura patted Harry on the back. He loved how the boy thought.

"For Ryou I packed all of his divining stuff, some extra cards, and enough clothes so you could change an outfit every day."

Ryou grinned.

"For Marik there are a few torture devices I picked up in a place I would rather not talk about, a new cell phone so you can call us in case of trouble, and a small hand held to amuse you on the plane with several game cartridges."

Marik crowed. He knew there was a reason he liked this kid!

"What about you Harry?"

"Wand, clothes, a few books to keep me occupied on the ride, water, power bars, and several owl treats."

"What about your Item?" asked Bakura.

"Around my neck, under the shirt. I'm not leaving something like that where any thief could find it."

"Did you pack mine?" asked Marik.

"Didn't know where you put it," Harry answered.

Marik grinned and pulled out the Scales. Harry tried not to think where he hid the thing in such skin tight jeans.

They headed out of the house without fanfare. The less people knew about them being gone, the better. It meant the Friendship Squad wouldn't be able to find them so easily unless they wanted them.

As Bakura had so aptly put it when Harry mentioned it...

"The pharaoh and his merry band of brown-noses have had their fun of save the world prophecies. Having them around would mean that we would have to listen to the twit's friendship rants, the idiots arguing, and the pharaoh's pathological need to make every little problem about him. Thank Ra they aren't coming along!"

Marik had cackled at that statement, and Ryou gave his silent agreement. While they could tolerate Yugi and his friends, the pharaoh really got on their nerves.

* * *

Harry wasn't surprised to have a vision when they landed. Luna and her father were waiting for them in an out of the way spot. They appeared to be camping.

Harry turned to Ishizu, who had followed so she could train the new wielder of the Tauk.

"Would you like to meet Luna now or later?"

"The sooner we can start her training the better," said Ishizu.

"Once I get them situated, I'll take you to her."

He lead their group to the spot where Grimmauld place was. Kaiba glared at the innocent seeming spot.

Harry grinned, and had Hedwig take a note to Sirius. He had been waiting anxiously for his godson and nephew's return.

The apartments slid away from each other, with the normal folk not noticing a thing, as usual. Sirius held the door open and they made quick time into the house.

Inside was a rather startling sight. Several of the Order members were either wounded or seriously worn out. They saw Harry, and waved half heartedly.

With the power of the Items on Voldemort's side, and his Death Eaters summoning heavy hitters from the Shadow Realm, they were greatly outnumbered.

Before they could get settled in, the sound of screams was heard outside.

Sirius swore, and went to fight the Death Eaters who had appeared outside.

Only to have Bakura and Malik stop him. They had bloodthirsty grins on their faces.

"I take it no one would be terribly upset if those idiots outside died in very messy ways?"

A chorus of "NO!" was heard. Bakura and Malik smirked.

* * *

They waltzed out of the house with ease. Everyone who had faced the Death Eaters in the past two weeks eagerly watched to see what the newcomers would do. Only to gasp in shock as they saw the two youths summon the same monsters that had been plaguing them for over a month!

But these weren't vague shades, they were the actual thing!

The only ones who didn't shiver in fear from Bakura's cruel laughter or Malik's insane cackle were Harry and those who had just come in. They were used to the two bloodthirsty spirits.

It wasn't long before the Death Eaters ran away screaming. They weren't used to actually having to fight someone anymore. They had gotten lazy while they fought using a power they didn't fully understand.

It didn't exactly help when Bakura garroted one of their own, and then proceeded to lick the knife. Malik hadn't helped either by slicing one of them in half. Out of the twenty Death Eaters who had shown up without warning, only four left alive. Ten of those had been killed by Bakura and Malik...the other six had been sent straight to the Shadow Realm when their monsters were destroyed.

Sirius opened to door for them. Malik stumbled on the troll leg, which set off the portrait of Sirius' mother. Bakura, who was in a good mood after killing several people in a bloody manner, winced.

"Would anyone be opposed to me destroying that?"

Sirius grinned evilly.

"If you did, I would kiss you...if I hadn't seen you lick that bloody knife."

Harry who heard the comment, laughed.

"Bakura, that thing is a menace which no one would be sorry to see gone."

Bakura smirked and opened a portal to the Shadow Realm. He dropped the shrieking portrait into the same place where they had sent the Death Eaters.

Blessed silence was heard as the portrait was finally disposed of.

Bakura was a bit surprised when he heard cheering. No one had liked that evil portrait, and even less had cared about the manner in which he disposed of the Death Eaters.

He was startled out of his musing when Sirius started to shake his hand. He had been very happy to see the painting gone. Bakura grinned.

"I can't wait to see how Bakura takes out a Death Eater hideout. I'm thinking flamethrowers. Lots and lots of flamethrowers," said Harry with a grin.

* * *

Harry took Ishizu to where Luna and her father were. Just as he suspected, Luna had the Tauk around her neck. The two had their wands in the hands the second they heard the sound of apparition.

Harry held up his own hands, far from his wand. They didn't lower theirs.

So he did something else. He made sure they could see his movements as he tossed them his wand. Ishizu made sure to let them see her in the moonlight.

Xenophilius Lovegood looked at the boy, and when he tossed his wand to them, finally lowered his. Clearly the boy just wanted to talk.

"Hello Luna."

"Hello Harry. Who is your friend?" asked Luna tiredly. The last few weeks had been hard on her. They had almost lost everything.

"Luna, meet Ishizu Ishtar. Ishizu, this is Luna Lovegood, the smartest girl of her year."

"Hello, Luna," said Ishizu calmly.

"Ishizu has the same problem you do Luna. She can see into the future and the past."

Xeno looked at the woman warily. She didn't look like any Death Eater he had come across. But there was no telling whether or not the two of them were polyjuiced.

"How about we just sit and talk for a few hours? Would that help?" asked Harry calmly.

And they did just that. Ishizu didn't seem bothered that the two of them were suspicious, but when an hour and a half passed without any changes in the two of them, the Lovegoods relaxed slightly.

Harry knew that they had made progress. The Lovegood family had been hit hard because of the Tauk. And he was more than willing to bring them to the Order for protection.

There, they would be under the watchful eye of Ishizu, who was a powerful Shadow Master in her own right even without the Tauk.

Xeno was at first reluctant to go, but when Harry mentioned that the beast which had plagued them for weeks would be kept away, they agreed. They packed with the ease of long practice.

After they read the slip of paper that someone had forgotten to burn (it was written by Dumbledore for a new Order member), they vanished into the night.

* * *

Xeno and Luna were exhausted, and fell asleep straight away on the mattresses. Just in case, the Order placed two guards outside who had no issues with stunning people without warning.

Much to the surprise (and secret relief of Harry) of everyone, Marik's Items had use in the Order.

It could be used as a way to detect whether someone would blab or not. He would place one of Hedwig's feathers on the Scales, and the person sitting in front of him would answer a series of questions. Depending on how the Scale tipped, the person would be allowed to stay.

It had only sent one person to the Shadow Realm, and they had later discovered that the man was actually a spy. (Which was why anyone who wished to come inside and stay had to deal with Marik first.)

So far the arrival of the new magic had been met with approval and relief. When Voldemort first reappeared at the Ministry, with no warning about that fact, it had been met with shock and horror. Especially when he revealed his new eye, a lidless golden nightmare with the Egyptian symbol for Horus embedded in it.

With his new toy he proceeded to throw countless Aurors and the like into the Shadow Realm without thought.

It was only when the Dark Lord had gotten _bored_ of sending people that he left. The remaining Aurors had been in shock, and no one knew what had happened to the others.

Needless to say the pandemonium that had occurred since only mad things go downhill faster.

* * *

Luna was the first to awake. Her father, who by then was very well attuned to his daughter's sleeping habits, woke up very quickly.

They were taken downstairs, and once they had the all clear from Marik, were given hot food to eat. Both of them ate like they were starved.

Molly tsked at their state, and it was very obvious to those that knew her that she was going to mother the both of them back to health in short order.

Like the Lovegood family, the Weasly clan had been attacked at their home. Unlike the Lovegood family, the Weaslys hadn't had any forewarning at all.

Which was why Charlie was currently nursing his ear, and Bill was limping slightly with a concerned Fluer at his side.

While they had survived more or less intact, Bill and Fluer reluctantly had to put their wedding on hold until the war had calmed down...or serious heavy duty wards had been put up.

Harry waited until Luna had finished her plate before he sprang the question on his mind.

"So Luna, how did you react when it appeared?"

She saw him looking at the Tauk, and replied calmly, "I awoke with a start, saw the necklace and put it on a few days later. My visions started coming more often and they were much clearer than before."

Ryou snorted.

"I'm fairly sure Trelawny could get actual visions if she had the Tauk."

Harry snickered. Trelawny was an out and out fraud who could barely get a vision in a hundred. Which is why her class was widely regarded as hogwash.

"I can teach you how to control the visions," said Ishizu.

Xeno wanted to know why his family had been attacked in the first place, since they were widely regarded as neutrals.

Harry looked away guiltily.

"I'm afraid it's Luna's fault you were attacked."

They stared at him in disbelief.

"Well, more or less her fault. She was chosen as the new master of the Millennium Tauk, which meant that she came onto Voldy's radar. If it hadn't come to her, you probably wouldn't have been camping out for so long."

Luna fingered the odd necklace. It was because of this that her home had been destroyed.

Xeno snorted.

"We would have come up sooner or later. The fools are always clamoring for pure bloods, particularly female ones."

"On the plus side, you can get back at them for destroying your house," said Harry with false cheer.

They stared at him.

"How?"

"Luna, once you get the hang of the visions, Ishizu can show you how to summon. Right?"

"She has the potential, otherwise it wouldn't have gone to her."

It was quickly settled. While Bakura, Marik and Malik went to each new attack made by Voldemort, Luna and Harry would learn the finer points of summoning with Ryou. Kaiba had decided he was best suited for planning their attack on known Death Eater hideouts. And for managing the funds of the Order, which much to his disgust, was half hazard at best.

Dumbledore had yet to make an appearance since Harry had returned to clean up _his_ mess.

* * *

He knew the boy had returned. But he was unable to make any moves while the school was in session. The boy had more or less transferred to a Japanese college, which meant he couldn't force him to return to the school.

All the while the Toad grated on his nerves, harming his pawns without his permission. Unfortunately, the Minister refused to see reason and remained adamant that the woman would protect the school from any attacks.

Voldemort's very public return and use of a magic not seen before had shaken a great many. Fudge was doing all he could just to stay in his office.

Very soon though, he would have the boy back in his grasp. Christmas holidays were about to arrive, and with them was a reprieve from his office.

He planned to capture Harry and force him into the castle. There he would bring up his backup plan to have the boy follow his every word. There would be no escape this time around.

* * *

Harry blinked as the daylight hit him in the face. Tomorrow they were going to raid one of the Death Eater camps. It was inside Malfoy's Manor.

Bakura was going to test his summoning ability against the few that were known to be there. Among them was Lucius and Macnair.

Narcissa had kidnapped Draco and taken him to Bulgaria to prevent his induction to the Death Eater ranks. That didn't mean Lucius hadn't already shown him how to summon monsters.

He yawned, and ate a heavy breakfast. He was going to need all the energy he could get to survive what Bakura called 'training.'

Bakura was giddy. Every since they had arrived, he had been getting his fill of murder, mayhem and destruction...and best of all his light wasn't angry about it! He actively encouraged it!

Malik was having a lot of fun as well, since Marik had found the magic that created the Dark Mark by accident. He was given free reign on anyone who was caught having a dark mark and shadow magic.

The only person who had escaped their rather disturbing imaginations when it came to torture and death was Snape, and that only because he was actively helping the Order.

(Snape had become very..._inspired_...to avoid regular Death Eater activities like killing muggleborns and the like after meeting Bakura and Malik. If Harry hadn't been there at the time and vouched for him, he knew full well he would have been killed or worse. He often shuddered at the fact that if it hadn't been for the Potter Spawn controlling them, he would have been killed or worse.)


	8. Chapter 8

Harry was having more fun than even he had hoped. And the reason why made even Bakura back away from him slowly.

Harry had found a way to make a homemade flamethrower. And much to the shock of those that knew him, he was a closet pyromaniac.

So instead of a simple _'seek, maim or kill DE in the vicinity and rescue all hostages'_ mission, they had a rather interesting game of _'point the rather disturbed fifteen year old at anyone who wasn't a victim of Voldemort and watch the fools burn'._

Obviously Bakura was having a lot of fun with that game. Ryou on the other hand was watching his cousin with something akin to horror.

_/Dear Ra we've created a monster./_

_/Cheer up hikari! At least now I can actually take him with me on raids!/_

_/Remind me to lock up anything flammable when we get back./_

_/You mean you haven't already?/_

Bakura cheerfully put the men out of their misery, and then robbed them blind. Much to his delight, the wizard currency couldn't be burned up with a simple flamethrower. Harry merely requested that he chuck all the books he found into the Shadow Realm so he could look over them later.

He fully planned to burn the place to the ground...which was why, once they had evacuated all the hostages/victims (and killed any DE that dared to pop their head out) Harry showed off his skills as a Shadow Summoner and brought out the largest Red Eyes Darkness Dragon Ryou and Bakura had ever seen.

The resulting fireball was seen for over twenty miles, and took four days to finally burn out.

* * *

_After the raid..._

Bakura and Harry were conspiring together, which made everyone who had been at the raid or heard about it run away screaming. Well, almost everyone.

Sirius had taken it upon himself to locate all the cans that Ryou had hid, and then proceeded to confiscate them. For the next week, Sirius, Bakura and Harry learned exactly how many of the dark items in the cabinet would burn.

The Marauder would then hand over fifteen cans of hair spray and cooking oil to his godson, and the promise that the next time Dumbledore even tried to enter the house he would get a nasty surprise.

(As it was, Bakura had been greatly disappointed to learn that his protegee had first dibs on the old goat. He hadn't taken the fact that it was Dumbledore who left him at the Dursleys very well, despite the fact that McGonagall had argued against such an action very loudly.)

* * *

Harry stepped out of Grimmauld place to stretch his legs. Only to hear someone use a stunner from behind, and then pass out.

When he awoke, he was greatly annoyed to find Dumbledore standing over him. The usual twinkle in his eyes was gone. Instead there was a cold and calculating look in his eyes.

"Harry my boy, how good of you to return."

Harry's eyes gained an evil glint of his own. To his irritation, the old man had confiscated his wand. He did not however, take the Millennium Ankh or the hidden cans in his pocket. A simple flick of the wrist, and he would have a nasty surprise for the man.

He knew for a fact that the protego charm didn't protect against pepper-spray at all. It only dealt with magical attacks, not muggle.

His wrists were tied securely by a medium sized rope. It was thick enough that he would have trouble cutting through, but thin enough that it could be tied without magic.

Unknown to Dumbledore, Bakura had given Harry plenty of lessons on how to undo knots. His current record was thirty seconds flat with his hands behind his back.

Harry made good of Dumbledore's inane ramblings of how he wouldn't escape this time, and how he would finally follow his lead like he should.

Dumbledore had talked for fifteen minutes straight, and Harry was reminded painfully of Tea's friendship speeches.

While the old man had been aware that Harry was struggling against the bonds, he only barely managed to bring his shield up in time to prevent a face full of cooking oil. His shield blocked it, but not before Harry ducked under it to spray him full on in the face with a different can.

His eyes began to burn like the devil himself.

Harry took his chance and ran to the door. He would deal with the old man later. The door was locked securely against magic and lock picks.

Dumbledore was starting to see again, so Harry sprayed him before he could get his bearings.

Seeing no other option, and doubting the old man would forget a simple anti-apparition ward and portkey ward, he reached for the Item around his neck.

He held it out in front of him, his body blocking the view of the key.

"_**Open."**_

The Shadow Realm eagerly obeyed the command, and without a single word in edgewise, Harry had vanished.

Harry looked around with irritation. Being kidnapped was not on his list of things to do, though now he had a more recent reason to kill Dumbledore.

As he wandered around the Shadow Realm looking for Bakura (he had noted that he could find the spirit with ease here, and didn't question why) he spotted a large group of sobbing people.

They were wearing the robes of Aurors and Ministry employees.

Harry walked up to them and asked them the date. Which is when he realized that they must be the poor sods that Voldemort had demonstrated his new trick on.

He grinned. He could release them and piss off the Dark Wanker. While sending people to the Shadow Realm without a game was one of the main tricks of the Eye, the rules were very explicit about keeping people there. Since he didn't beat them in a challenge of any sort, any wielder of the Millennium Items could release them at any time.

So he told them that they could leave if they stayed close to him. It didn't take too long after that to find Malik, who was pouting.

He cheered up immediately when he spotted Harry.

"Puppy! Where have you been?"

"Marik banish you to keep you from rescuing me?" asked Harry amused.

Malik pouted again. Then he spotted the people following his 'Puppy'.

He gave Harry a confused look.

"I'm pissing off the Dark Wanker."

Malik laughed as Harry opened the way into the real world. The people looked around very confused in Grimmauld place.

Sirius spotted his godson and tackled him in a hug. Bakura looked very amused.

"Pup! Who are all these people?"

Bakura walked up to Harry with a smirk.

"They're the employees that Voldemort sent to the Shadows without a game, aren't they?"

Harry cackled.

"What better way to annoy him than to free them?"

Bakura cackled himself. Someone finally realized who it was that saved them. But most of them were weeping with relief that they were out. It didn't take long for them to finally recover from the Shadow Realm.

Their families were startled to find them home and safe, though they all made good on escaping. Out of the people who had been sent to the Shadows, none of them remained anywhere near Europe.

* * *

Bakura was bored. So in a bit of mischief he found a muggle set of playing cards and got most of the guys in on the fun. Sirius decided to up the ante by mentioning a game called Strip Poker.

Bakura had a better idea. Somehow, somewhere he found a bunch of girly looking costumes in everyone's sizes.

A few of them were maids outfits, or worse, school girl.

Sirius naturally seized on his idea and it wasn't long before Bakura explained the rules of the rather odd poker game.

For every lost hand, the losers would have to change into another piece of clothing. For every complete costume, they would take photos.

Much to the amusement of the winners, the ones who ended up out of the game early were Marik, Bill, Charlie, Ryou, and Remus (in that order). Fluer thought Bill made a cute maid. Marik and Ryou were dressed as school girls, and much to their complete horror, they actually pulled the look off. Charlie felt really comfortable being in a school girl outfit, which made a few of them wonder if he was still in the closet (it was later confirmed that he was). Poor Remus couldn't believe he was stuck in a maid's outfit.

Sirius was about to lose the next hand, and that would mean he would be out of the game.

It was bad enough that Harry had the better poker face, which meant that he was currently a very convincing school girl. To his horror, Remus got revenge for his laughter by tying his hair into twin pigtails...with large fluffy pink ribbons.

Harry wasn't nearly as bad, because even though he was in a maid's outfit, he still had his pants on. So far he had the least amount of clothing.

Bakura was close to losing the game as well. He was in a rather fetching English ladies dress, complete with enough ruffles to keep Tea happy. It was completely white and pink, and to his disgust it suited him.

Harry tossed down a royal flush, and the two of them cursed. Once they finished getting dressed, they decided to get back at Harry by dragging him in the back and putting the rest of his maid's outfit on...garter belt and all.

Fluer and the girls took many, many photos of them all, and hid each of them. There was no way the boys were getting out of this.

* * *

Bakura and Malik dragged Harry up to their private room. It was agreed by everyone in the house that when those two started to cackle evilly, to avoid their room for general sanity purposes. So no one was there when Bakura and Malik tag teamed against Harry.

"Really Harry, did you think we could resist you wearing that?" purred Bakura.

Malik grinned lecherously.

"You idiots forced me into the outfit!" complained Harry. He knew he wasn't going to get out of whatever they planned, but he wanted it on record that he was against it anyway.

Sirius was grinning evilly when Harry walked out of the room with a limp.

"So how did it go?"

"Threesomes...are terrifying with _them_ involved. Especially since they've got a lot of pent up energy from killing people," winced Harry.

Sirius wasn't surprised.

"Figures killing and maiming would get them up," he snorted.

"Are you really okay with me and them?"

"Have they attempted to kill you or worse since you've known them?"

"No. Within a week they had claimed me as theirs in front of Ryou and Marik. Ryou would have choked to death if Marik hadn't managed to dislodge the grape."

"Have they ever tried to betray you in any way or form?"

"Not that I am aware of."

"Have they been anything but honest and upfront with how they like you?"

"Nope."

"Then face it Pup, you're going to be stuck with them. And for the record, I don't have a problem with those two. They are more overprotective of you than Molly is with her children, but they also trust you to handle yourself on your own."

Bakura appeared in the door with a grin.

"It's good that you approve, because there is no way we're letting Puppy go now."

Sirius found Harry's nickname hilarious.

"Well, _Pup_, I suppose you'll need breakfast and a pain reliever."

"Breakfast and a flamethrower. I intend to burn a few idiots before lunch."

"It is noon already," said Sirius with a grin.

"Dinner then."

* * *

After the third Death Eater raid with Harry pretty much burning everything in sight, they ran into Voldemort at last.

The man snarled. Time to teach Harry a lesson! He went to send the child to the odd realm with the others, only to discover he couldn't.

Harry smirked evilly.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot that unlike me, no one has taught you the rules. You can't send me to the Shadow Realm without winning a challenge."

Voldemort snarled more.

"Then I challenge you to a duel Potter!" he sneered.

Harry grinned even wider. He knew full well that Voldemort meant a magical duel...but he didn't know that the word had a double meaning when it came to the Items.

"I summon Arcana Magician!"

A man in a completely white outfit appeared in a swirl of shadows. Voldemort stared, before he summoned his own monster. It was something Harry was not surprised in the least to see.

A snake. Somehow the idiot had found the shadow equivalent of a Basilisk. Alas, he obviously didn't know _how_ to activate the serpent's deadly ability. Whereas Harry knew exactly how to deal with the snake.

He took out a card and activated it's effect.

Ever since he had come to live with his cousin, he had gained a healthy interest in Duel Monsters. Since Ryou, Marik and Bakura were all experts in their own right, they had helped him build a deck.

He could currently hold his own against Joey, which meant he was good enough against most people.

"I use _Change of Heart_!"

The basilisk switched sides, and Harry wasted no time in using it to summon something much more potent.

"I activate the _Black Chaos Ritual_ and sacrifice Dark Basilisk and Arcana Magician to summon the Magician of Dark Chaos!"

The resulting pull of shadows told Voldemort that he was about to lose, badly.

The creature that appeared out of the darkness was terrifying. It had an outfit made of red and black coloring, and it's staff was leveled at Voldemort. The eyes were like pools of darkness.

Harry smirked.

"Magician of Dark Chaos, attack Voldemort directly!"

Voldemort scrambled for any spell from the muggle card game (yes, the dark lord had taken a look, though he didn't know _why) _and then used the only thing he could think of.

"I activate _Negate Attack_!"

Harry looked surprised that he knew what to use at all.

"I end my turn."

Voldemort scrambled into his pockets for the deck he had made. It wasn't very good, and it was full of powerful monsters. Still, it might be enough to keep the brat from taking him out!

(Alas, the Dark Lord had no idea that he needed weak monsters in order to summon the stronger ones. He barely had a grasp on any aspect of the game.)

Voldemort tried to summon monster after monster, but nothing would appear. Harry was very amused at his idiocy.

Suddenly Voldemort did the only thing he could. He managed to find a series of cards that would cause the duel to end in a draw. And he used them.

Harry cried out in outrage as the Dark Lord managed to escape. Not unharmed, but still.

So Harry cursed up a blue streak about the coward, and Bakura waltzed up very amused.

"How did your first game go?"

"The (censored) (censored) rat bastard managed to escape!"

Bakura laughed like a hyena when he heard the language Harry used.

"He managed to get a draw? How bad was he?"

"He had no idea how to play at all. Though now that he knows I can kick his ass anytime I want he'll probably look up the rules. Damn."


	9. Chapter 9

Harry was in a foul mood for a week because of Voldemort's escape. Though that couldn't be said of the Order.

It seemed that the near defeat at the hands of his rival had shown Voldemort that he was not the strongest.

Harry was.

Which meant they had a rather quiet two months. During that time, Luna managed to learn how to summon a vision and how to use her Ka to summon monsters. She mostly focused on water types.

Bakura, on the other hand, was determined to help Harry find his Ka beast. The monster which would represent him personally.

As far as they could tell, it was a magician type. Thankfully it wasn't the _Dark Magician._ That would have been very awkward indeed.

Sirius had started to learn how to summon, and already knew what his beast was. And it didn't surprise anyone that it was a dark beast.

Sirius' Ka beast was the Magician of Black Chaos. (Remus had one too, and it turned out to be a ritual monster known as Lycanthrope.)

* * *

Harry was frustrated, to say the least. Nothing he seemed to do worked. Bakura and Malik were out, so he couldn't work out his anger that way. And anything flammable had been hidden weeks ago. He didn't feel like hunting it down either.

So, in an effort to keep from screaming, he did the only logical thing he could think of.

He took a walk...in the Shadow Realm.

This wasn't as dangerous as it sounded. Most of the creatures that lived there knew him by now. Or avoided him like the plague.

Seeing the dark nightmares actually calmed him down. Here he could destroy whatever he wanted and not hurt anything. He could even use his flames to annoy the monsters.

Suddenly he stopped.

Was that arguing he heard? Walking towards the sound of the two voices, he came across an interesting sight.

A group of spellcasters were in a rather intense argument. All of them were of the 'elemental charmer' variety. He recognized them on sight...because he had them in his deck.

Wynn the Wind Charmer, Hiita the Fire Charmer, Eria the Water Charmer, Dharc the Dark Charmer, Lyna the Light Charmer and Aussa the Earth Charmer.

When played correctly, they took control of any monster that corresponded with their element.

"_He's my partner!"_ said Wynn angry.

"_No, he's mine. Get another one!"_ shrieked Hiita.

Utterly confused, Harry debated on whether to ask what was going on or to back away slowly.

Alas, Fate always hated him. Because at that moment the two spellcasters spotted him. The others wisely stayed out of the way.

"_There you are!" _exclaimed Wynn.

_"Finally, we can end this debate!"_ said Hiita.

"Um...hello?"

"_Harry, which one of us do you want as a partner?"_ they said in unison.

Harry blinked owlishly. He was so out of his element that it wasn't even funny!

"Could someone explain what's going on first?" Harry finally asked.

"_A few weeks ago I heard my partner calling me, and ended up running into Hiita. I was glad that my friend had finally heard her master, until she told me WHO it was."_

"_Wynn tried to get me to pick someone else, but I heard you better than she did. Next thing we knew, we were arguing over who your real partner was."_

"_And we haven't stopped since,"_ said Wynn.

Harry couldn't believe that the reason he hadn't found his partner was because he had two. He felt like doing an anime pratfall.

"So this whole time, the reason why I couldn't get my partner to come out is because you two couldn't decide on _who_ it would be?" he said, calmly.

The girls nodded emphatically.

"Why can't both of you be my partner?" he said.

"_Because the rules state that only ONE partner may join with a Shadow Summoner,"_ said Wynn.

"_One monster to each soul. That was the deal,"_ said Hiita, nodding.

"I think I see the problem here. Are you two aware that I carried a second soul in my curse scar for nearly fifteen years?" he asked.

The two looked utterly shocked at that. Then they started talking again.

"_It explains the double summoning..." _muttered Wynn.

"_And why we were all called..."_ said Hiita.

"Now that the main problem has been more or less explained, why can't both of you be my partner? I'm sure I have enough magic to support the two of you, provided I only power up one at a time."

"_Finally, someone can end their bickering," _said Dharc tiredly. The others nodded in agreement.

"May I ask why you guys are here too? No offense..."

"_We're here, because you soul called ALL the charmers, not just fire and wind. Fortunately, we agreed to let them be the Ka beast... if only they would make up their minds," _said Eria.

"And it's just coincidence that my deck happens to be focused on Charmers and not traditional magicians?" he asked dryly.

They all shook their head. His deck was one of the rare Charmer decks (rare because few people saw the point in using them in a deck, let alone basing a theme on them) because their soul called to his.

* * *

By the time they had agreed on who would come out when (apparently they _all_ qualified to be his Ka beast, since his soul was suited to Charmers) Harry came out, wiping his eyes tiredly.

He looked at the clock, and decided against dinner.

Bakura and Malik found him sound asleep in their room two hours later. They decided not to bother him.

* * *

Bakura watched from his chair, which he had backwards for some reason. Harry told him he was going to summon his Ka beast today, and he was interested.

He gaped when he realized his toy had not one beast, but _six_.

"How the hell did you end up with six? Most can barely support one!"

"How does Yugi support over a hundred Kuriboh at one time?" asked Harry dryly.

Bakura conceded his point. Charmers were relatively low level enough that they could be summoned easily. And Yugi had more than enough magic to handle Kuriboh's multiply ability.

Harry, on the other hand, had about the same amount if not more than Yugi, and he had been practicing with it longer than the chibi had.

"Still, not many can handle six at one time, especially when the attributes are so ranged."

Harry snorted.

"I walked in on two of them arguing who would represent me last night, and only got back a few minutes before dinner. They worked out a schedule...with a bit of help from me."

Bakura burst out laughing. So that's why his little one was so tired last night! He was playing referee between the Ka beasts!

Malik walked in, saw the six different beasts, and had to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"How did...?"

"Apparently my deck choice wasn't random," said Harry, amused.

They did wonder why he made a Charmer deck, but as long as it wasn't one they disliked they weren't going to comment.

* * *

Voldemort was pleased. He had found a deck that would suit his needs and bring fear into the Wizard community.

And the muggles called it the Venom deck.

Ever since his defeat at the hands of his enemy, he realized he would have to actually _learn_ how to play the wretched muggle game. There was only one problem.

It seemed that the only duelists he could get his hands on were some of the lowest ranking ones. They could barely win a 'tournament' let alone be able to defeat Potter.

It seemed that he would have to take more...extreme measures to insure his victory over that arrogant brat!

* * *

It happened so quickly they almost didn't understand it. One minute Yami was sound asleep, the next he heard his aibou waking up in shock.

Someone had broken into the Kame game shop, again.

Strangely enough, instead of trying to steal the god cards as usual, these people seemed more interested in kidnapping Yugi.

He ducked when he felt the evil magic coming. A blast of sickly green light narrowly missed him.

His grandfather had long since come up with a solution to all the repeated break ins.

He let the Pharaoh handle it. Anyone stupid enough to try and steal from the King of Games deserved whatever his mind came up with. Besides, he was too old for that crap.

Yami watched in shock as his aibou was kidnapped. The intruders left with a loud crack.

Solomon gave Yami a look. He lived on the lower floor for safety reasons.

"Malik had better have a damn good explanation for this," snarled Yami.

The intruders bore a rather large resemblance to the Ghouls that had once flocked to the Millennium Rod.

* * *

Malik reached for, and missed Marik's cell. Marik had long since made an agreement with his dark side that one of them would handle the cell phone each night.

Usually Marik.

He finally grabbed it, took one look at the number and swore.

"This had better be good," he growled.

"_WHERE THE HELL DID YOUR GHOULS TAKE YUGI?"_

Malik had remembered what happened the last time the Pharaoh called. He had wisely held the phone far from his ear.

Bakura rolled over, pinning Harry.

"What have you got your shorts in a twist about this time? I didn't have that chibi brat kidnapped you moron."

"_WELL THEY SURE AS HELL LOOKED LIKE YOUR DAMN GHOULS!"_

Malik thought a minute, then realized how the narcissistic pharaoh could make that mistake. He kicked Bakura.

"OW! What was that for you ass?"

"Wake up. Moldy shorts had the chibi pharaoh kidnapped."

"How the hell do you know that?"

Malik put the Pharaoh on speaker. He was still ranting about what he was going to do to Malik and Marik when he got his hands on them.

Bakura was very glad they had a very strong silencing charm on the room (courtesy of Sirius and Remus.)

"WILL YOU SHUT UP, BAKA PHARAOH! We didn't take Yugi."

Yami quieted down long enough for Bakura to explain. Harry yawned, looked at the clock and gave them all a dirty look.

"It's three in the bloody morning. Why are we up?"

"The idiot kidnapped Yugi, and the Pharaoh blames us," said Malik.

"Oh. Then let me sleep. We'll rescue him in the morning," yawned Harry, rolling over.

Yami apparently realized that Harry was in the same room as Bakura and Malik, because it set him off again. They ended the call, effectively shutting him up. Then Malik turned off the phone for good measure.

"Shouldn't you warn the Priest?"

"Why?"

"Because he'll get pissed at us later for not giving him the heads up?"

"So?"

Bakura nodded to Harry, who was still sound asleep.

"Brownie points?"

"Exactly!"

Bakura fished out his phone (he had gotten his own so he could warn Ryou whenever there was trouble) and called Kaiba. How he got his number, no one knows. (Ryou suspected Kaiba had given it to him to shut him up.)

"Yo, dragon boy."

"_What do you want? It's three in the morning asshole."_

"Heads up. Moldy shorts had the chibi Pharaoh kidnapped. Pharaoh's pissed off and might head your way."

"_...!#$%^&*() And you warned me why?"_

"Brownie points."

"_Think anyone will care if I don't answer the phone?"_

"Doubtful."

Seto Kaiba ended the call, and promptly shut his phone off a second before Yami managed to dial his number. This would result in Mokuba learning a larger vocabulary of swear words that his brother would ban from his use unless everything goes totally pear shaped.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. Voldemort has kidnapped this kid and you're not concerned why?" asked Sirius.

"The brat has the luck of the gods. Every time he or that damn pharaoh has been close to defeat, somehow, someway he always comes out on top. We're only going to rescue him to shut his dark side up," said Bakura sourly.

"He's over fifteen and he's as sweet as a five year old," said Malik dryly.

Harry snickered.

"He's about as tall as one to."

The three laughed. Yugi was dismally short.

* * *

Yugi was in serious pain. His luck didn't cover torture. And the monster before him was after something, but he hurt too much to find out what.

Finally someone took pity on him and knocked him out.

Snape disliked this part. Voldemort wanted the best duelist in the world, and the kid they took was...cute, for lack of a better word.

He took pity on the brat and knocked him out, before taking all his knowledge of dueling. It wasn't complete, since the boy was out cold, but it was enough to keep Voldemort from killing the boy outright.

Well that and the fact that this boy had the Puzzle, which Voldemort wanted.

* * *

Bakura used the Ring to find Yugi. Though he really didn't need to. Yugi was like the Pharaoh in that wherever he was, the shadow realm rose to his aide.

So when he saw the house completely enveloped in shadows...he knew the runt had to have been tortured.

He winced.

Yami was going to be so pissed at them it wasn't even funny. Harry saw the shadows, and tried to figure out which Charmer to use.

"Should I use Dharc, Lyna or Hiita?" he asked.

"Dharc. Definitely use Dharc," said Malik with a groan.

Harry gave him a look.

"With that amount of shadow around the house, there's no doubt in my mind mostly Dark attributes will be in there," explained Bakura.

Malik facepalmed. That was a understatement. With the way the Death Eaters acted, the chances of anything _other_ than dark attribute monsters showing up were next to nill. Harry went in first (since he was armed with flammable liquids...) followed by Bakura and Malik.

Harry walked into the house, beamed widely and said in a loud (and very clear voice)...

"_Who's up for some bbq idiots?"_

The Death Eaters took one look at his insane grin, saw the cans of flammable liquid, and ran screaming.

They didn't make it past the front door. Bakura and Malik grinned as they watched their little one burn everything in sight that moved. Well, anything over three feet tall anyway.

Voldemort heard the screams, looked down the balcony and swore loudly. Potter had found him again, before he could finish rebuilding his deck.

And to make matters worse, Potter had a side kick. It appeared to be one of the dark attribute magician class, one that he had tossed aside for being so weak.

Dharc the Dark Charmer. The only male Charmer out of the set.

The boy was manipulating shadows with relative ease, sending them to bind anyone who tried to escape the flames. He seemed amused by something, though he couldn't tell what.

Voldemort went down the stairs, ignoring the screams. He was going to kill the boy this time, and take his Item!

"Potter, I challenge you to a duel!" he announced.

Harry looked at him, leered evilly, then drew his deck. Dharc vanished, but the shadows began to pool around Harry anyway.

"I accept, Moldy Shorts!" smirked Potter.

The shadows surrounded the two of them. Malik and Bakura took the chance to find Yugi. Most of the Death Eaters had fled once they realized Voldemort had taken Potter out of the equation for the moment.

Snape was waiting for them.

"He's in here."

"Thanks. Know any potions to help hearing loss and migraines?" asked Bakura.

"Two. Why?"

"Because his dark side is going to be pissed enough when he finds out the brat was tortured," said Malik.

"Ah."

Bakura ducked in, and winced when he saw Yugi's condition.

"Why the hell did Moldy Short abduct him anyway? Yami is the one with the Puzzle."

"He wanted the best duelist so he wouldn't lose as badly to Potter. Well, that and he wants the Puzzle."

"Did he get any better?" asked Malik, curious.

"The boy is good, but when I borrowed his knowledge he was out cold, so the chances are slim that Voldemort would succeed."

Suddenly the shadow ball beneath them ruptured. Voldemort had barely pulled off another stalemate, though this time he had been closer to keeping himself from being eaten by the Shadow Realm.


	10. Chapter 10

Yugi woke up to see a familiar face.

Bakura.

Old memories of how the Thief King acted around him surfaced, and he backed away. Only to wince as the pain from earlier made itself known.

Bakura went to the door and yelled "He's awake!"

Ryou, Marik, Harry and a few people he didn't know came in. One appeared to be a nurse.

"You've been out for nearly two days," Harry informed him.

"Ow..."

The nurse gave him a smoking vial, and he knew he had to drink it. He grimaced at the taste, because frankly Yami's attempts at cooking tasted better.

On the plus side, the pain was starting to go away.

Then he entered. The man with the black eyes. Yugi winced, and everyone noticed.

"Relax Yugi, he's on our side."

"He was there."

"Who do you think knocked you out?" asked the man.

"He also lead us straight to you while Harry kept that snake bastard busy," said Bakura.

* * *

It took a few days for Yugi to be able to walk, let alone leave the room. Every day he drank the foul tasting potions just so he could get over the experience.

While he had been kidnapped before, at least the people hadn't tortured him to the extent the snake man did. He seemed to _enjoy_ causing pain.

When he finally left the room, he ran right into Harry talking to a Charmer.

It appeared to be Hiita.

"Oh, you're out?"

Hiita bowed to him, but Yugi was so used to this he bowed back without thinking.

"Is this your Ka beast?" asked Yugi, interested.

"Actually all the Charmers are. We came up with a specific list of conditions that I have to fulfill to bring one out."

"_At this point, only Dharc has been able to come out properly. They banned him from summoning me whenever he gets in a mood,"_ said Hiita amused.

Yugi looked at Harry, who shrugged.

"I found out that I'm a closet pyro. They have locked away anything flammable weeks ago."

"_You know the Thief King. He'll find it and give it to you for a good laugh."_

"Which reminds me. We're getting some new recruits from Beauxbatons soon. One of them is guaranteed to give us all a laugh," said Harry.

"Why?"

Harry's smirk reminded him painfully of Bakura.

"Because she happens to be Ryou's twin sister Amane. Who just graduated from school early."

* * *

Ryou was on pins and needles. It would be the first time in ten years that he had seen his sister. He wondered how she would react to his boyfriend.

When the door opened, revealing a female version of Ryou (she looked somewhat more feminine than he had during the poker game Bakura roped them into, to his relief) Marik had to keep a hold on his shoulder to keep him from squishing her in a hug.

"Ryou!"

He smiled, and it was to his amusement that she crushed him into hug.

Amane gave him a look, then she saw Marik.

"Now Ryou, who is this eye candy, and why are you blushing?"

Ryou winced. Trust a twin to pick up on _that._

"Amane...this is Marik Ishtar...my boyfriend."

"Funny, I always pegged you for an angel, not a fairy," she quipped.

Bakura let out a bark of laughter. She wasn't that far off. Harry stepped out of the shadows, and she squealed.

"Cousin Harry! Fluer told me so much about you!"

"You know Fluer?"

"Know her, want to hex her hair a garish pink, and totally jealous she's already getting married to an awesome guy," answered Amane.

Harry laughed.

"You should have seen the _look_ on her face when I told her that I was your cousin. She about flipped!" snickered Amane.

It was then that the twins popped in. And grinned evilly.

"Ryou, why didn't you tell us you had an identical twin?" asked Gred.

"Because then you two idiots would have wanted to corrupt my poor sister," retorted Ryou.

"Too late. I have the biggest porn collection in the school," she told him.

The look on his face at that was so funny that Bakura snapped several pictures. Marik was already cackling like a hyena.

"Are you serious?"

"She's not Sirius, I am! Hello Amane!" said Sirius amused.

"That was a horrible pun, and I was only half joking. To be frank, I have the _second_ biggest. And I lead the hentai highway at Beauxbatons," she said flatly.

Harry cracked up.

"And you're still my favorite cousins!" he cackled.

"What about those idiots in Surrey?" asked Amane. Unlike the other people of the magical community, she had bothered to look him up in a muggle directory.

"Can be killed by Death Eaters for all I care," said Harry bluntly.

Amane winced.

"That bad?"

"Worse than you can imagine. Feel free to hex the old man on sight."

* * *

Much to the shock of Ryou, but not to Bakura, Amane was a natural conduit for the shadow realm.

When Ryou actually asked his darker side, Bakura explained why he knew she would have the same ability.

"Twins are essentially a soul that has been split into two naturally. Because you were born to be my missing lighter half, she ended up becoming a shadow mage as well. Without the Millennium Items to awaken her natural powers over shadows, they remained sealed until now," shrugged Bakura.

Amane was too busy playing with her Ka beasts to pay attention. Because of her special soul (being the twin to the reincarnation of the Thief King had it's perks) she had two Ka beasts.

Ebon Magician Curran and White Magician Pikeru.

It didn't take long for her to get used to summoning, and she had soon moved on to powering up her beasts to their 'Princess' forms.

Much to the horror of her more genteel brother, Amane was still in her rebellious phase of her life. Where he was a genteel albino who hated violence, she was a punk goth that looked disturbingly like the female version of Bakura, only less bloodthirsty and likely to set fire to random people.

And for reasons Marik didn't like to think about, she kept grabbing his ass. If she wasn't his boyfriend's twin, he would have stabbed her by now.

As it was, Ishizu found the whole thing downright hilarious. She looked at it as revenge for all the pranks Marik had played on her since he managed to get his darkness under control.

* * *

Yami arrived in England, and he was on the warpath. While the atmosphere had lightened since Harry had returned and took a strong offense against the Death Eaters, it was still rather bleak.

And the thirty Death Eaters who had learned about the King of Games being out in the open would never live to tell the tale of the battle.

The Dark Magician didn't like that his King was acting so ruthless, but until the Prince was found, he would remain as cold as the Thief King before Ryou managed to calm him down.

Besides, the men who had attacked them had killed innocent bystanders, so they couldn't be very pleasant people to begin with.

Yami used his Puzzle to hone in on his Hikari. The only issue was that it lead him to an odd neighborhood missing the twelfth house.

He was about to blast the place with pure Shadow magic when a house appeared. With Bakura looking at him very annoyed.

"Get in here already. The brat has been bouncing off the walls for hours now!" he snapped.

Yami glared at Bakura. As far as he was concerned, this was all _his_ fault.

"Yami!"

The King of Games relaxed when Yugi barreled into him. He looked a little worse for wear, but he assumed it was because of Bakura and Malik.

Yami did a double take when he saw 'Ryou' sitting at the table talking to his hikari.

"Dear Ra, what did you do to your hikari thief?" asked Yami in horror.

Bakura followed his line of sight, and managed to keep from cackling like a hyena. This would be highly amusing to watch, if Yami couldn't see the fact that 'Ryou' had breasts!

Amane looked at Yami, then glared at him. He had interrupted a discussion of magic with Yugi.

Harry was in the shadows, with a camera hiding under his cloak. He knew Bakura would want doubles!

"Ryou, what the hell happened to you? Did Bakura brainwash you or something?" asked Yami in concern.

Yami obviously didn't realize Yugi had noticed the mistake, and was trying very, very hard not to giggle. 'Ryou' continued to ignore Yami.

When Yami touched 'Ryou', he got the shock of a lifetime when 'Ryou' threw him on the table, and had one of Bakura's knives at his throat.

(Bakura had agreed to teach Amane how to defend herself, since the defense classes at her school were very basic at best. Right now she was on knives.)

"My name is _not_ Ryou, and if you touch me again I will give you another hole to breath out of," she snarled.

Yami looked at Bakura, who was on the floor, doubled over in laughter.

"Thief, how did you turn your hikari into a female?" he asked slowly.

Then his face turned poleaxed when the real Ryou walked in, wondering what his dark side had gotten into this time. Yami only just realized that someone was snapping an old camera in the room.

"Amane, leave Yami alone," said Ryou amused.

Yugi was joining Bakura on the floor, cracking up at the shocked horror on Yami's face.

Harry completed the shocked horror on Yami's face when he came out from under the cloak, cackling.

"This is even funnier than that poker game you roped us into!" snickered Harry.

"Dear Bast, did you see your face?" said Bakura, who had laughed himself into wraith form.

Sirius spewed his drink all over Yami, mainly because he had never seen Bakura _in_ wraith form.

"How the hell did you do that?"

"Hm? Oh this? Shadow magic can turn the darkness of a select few corporeal. Allows us to live our own lives without dragging our lighter halves into some of our more dangerous exploits. Took us months to figure out how to do it properly."

"Then how do you...?" asked Sirius, not understanding it.

"Let me rephrase that. Shadow Magic makes us solid. But it requires absolute control. If we lose control for too long, we revert to spirit form. Annoying really."

_**(Now will you people quit asking me why I write as if they have their own bodies?)**_

It took Yami three days to get used to the fact that there was a female Ryou who acted a little too much like Bakura. And another week for him to get over the fact that Yugi had been tortured...though that was completely Ishizu's fault for being unable to lie to the Pharaoh.

(Bakura had, with Yugi's permission, blocked any memory of the event. It was the only way to keep the poor kid from screaming out at night.)

After that, no one wanted to deal with the Pharaoh.

* * *

"Explain to me again _why _the damn Pharaoh is coming with us on a raid?" whined Malik.

"Because Harry said he would...accidentally...set the bastard's hair on fire?" smirked Bakura.

Oh yes, Yami had not made a good impression on Harry, particularly when he learned it was the boy's own arch enemy who had tortured Yugi in the first place.

He also had the most annoying habit of comparing Yugi to Harry. While the similarities between the two hadn't been lost on the others, the fact that Yami apparently couldn't get it through his head that no one was willing to act like he was god on earth had gotten on _everyone's _nerves.

Even Hermione, who had put up with Ron for four years (before she finally popped him hard in the mouth, dislodging three teeth in the process) found the man grating.

It was Bill who finally shut Yami up...by pulling something that normally only Bakura would do. (More like _could_ do.)

He hit Yami with a rather nasty Egyptian curse that would refuse to go away for four whole days, if he survived, and being in wraith form didn't help at all.

Harry went in second, much to the amusement of Bakura and Malik. After listening to his narcissism for two weeks, no one had told him about Harry's tendency to go into raids with as many flammable liquids as possible.

And somehow Yugi had tricked Yami into using hair spray to keep his distinct star shaped hair flat. Which it did, to a point.

Right as Yami was getting into the swing of using the Dark Magician's magical blasts...he started screaming. His head was on fire!

Mahado (Dark Magician) took one look at the spectacle before managing to summon water. It left him severely drained.

And, to the relief and amusement of the trio (no one dared to go on a raid if Bakura, Malik or Harry was going, let alone all three) Voldemort appeared and sealed Yami in the Shadow Realm before he could blink.

(In case you were wondering, Yugi had the Puzzle at the moment. Which meant Yami didn't have _that_ to protect him.)

Probably why Voldemort blinked repeatedly to the sound of Harry and the others cheering. Bakura and Malik went away, leaving Voldemort to duel Harry, as was usual at this point.

Harry smirked in unholy glee as he prepared to take the rest of Voldemort's life points. There was no way that bastard was escaping a third time!

Then Voldemort displayed his rather irritating luck of playing a card that forced the duel to end in a draw...again! Harry swore rather impressively (Bakura was a very bad influence on him, as he had the largest arsenal of swear words around) as the Shadows vanished and Voldemort left with a loud crack.

Bakura and Malik stayed well out of the range of Harry's fireballs as he vented his frustration of not being able to kill the bastard. They didn't think to ask _how_ the boy found a way to toss such disturbingly large balls of flame using pure shadow magic.

* * *

Seeing the look on Harry's face when they returned, no one questions when Bakura and Malik grabbed him and frogmarched him up the stairs to their room. If they couldn't wear him out so he wouldn't kill someone, then they were trying hard enough.

So the fact that none of them came down until breakfast the next day came as little surprise. Though to the shock of the house, it was Bakura and Malik who came down looking worn out, not Harry. He was barely limping.

On the plus side, Harry didn't look homicidal anymore!


	11. Chapter 11

Sirius walked up to the group, and gave him opening line.

"I've got good news and bad news," he said cheerfully.

"Out with it," snapped Harry. He loathed mornings, and Malik had kicked him out of the bed around three.

He promptly forced the other two to wake up at four in morning as payback. By using Eria's control over water monsters.

"Good news, we have only three soul fragments remaining."

"What's the bad?" asked Bakura, knowing he wasn't going to like it one bit.

"One of them is Harry. More specifically his scar."

"Easy enough to fix. I'll just lose a Shadow game and have that sealed away instead," shrugged Harry.

"That...might actually work."

Bakura went up against Harry, and after half an hour, beat his boyfriend. Something inside Harry's scar came out screaming bloody murder, and they all winced at the volume.

When it came completely out, silence reigned.

Suddenly they all heard more screaming from the living room. They raced out of the room to find out what caused it, and looked in shock as a silver locket which no one had ever looked twice at produced the soul of Voldemort.

Fifty miles past Dublin, Voldemort screamed bloody murder as he felt the shadows pulling him away from the mortal coil. Nagini was hissing in pain as well, as the soul fragment that he had placed in her was ripped out.

All over Europe, the pieces of Voldemort's soul were being ripped from their anchors into the Shadow Realm.

And just like that, the curse of Voldemort was gone from the world. All because of Bakura.

"...What just happened?" asked Harry.

"...I think we just killed the snake idiot," said Bakura in shock.

Without warning, Yami fell on his ass into the living room. He got up cursing like a sailor for the fall.

"Alright, who's bright idea was it to have the portal open here?" he demanded.

"Crap...can we kill him?" asked Harry.

"I wish..." grumbled Bakura.

"Wait, what happened to the Millennium Eye?" said Harry in shock.

Bakura looked at him, then said "#$%^&*()! We need to find where his last hideout is before some moron picks it up again!"

* * *

Harry and Bakura ran into the hideout...only to find someone had beat them to the Eye. Bakura and Malik swore when they saw who it was.

"Shadi! I thought you were dead!"

"Hardly. I came to reclaim the Eye. There is no one else worthy of it's power alive."

"Hold it right there pal! You had better not even think of giving that damn thing to some other sucker! It was hard enough getting rid of the last one!" snapped Harry.

Shadi had a poleaxed look on his face. Apparently he _had_ been planning to give the Eye to someone else.

Harry looked at Bakura with a gleam in his eyes.

"Tell me, how are we going to get rid of the Millennium Items now that Yami's powers are back?"

"Good question. We don't actually _need_ them around anymore, and anyone who get's the Eye would eventually turn evil and we'll have to start this whole mess over again," said Malik.

Harry looked at Shadi.

"Is there any way to seal these Items away permanently without allowing the Eye to fall into someone's hands?"

Shadi looked at him blankly.

"The only way you would be able to seal them away again is through time travel," he said bluntly.

"How far back are we talking about here?" asked Bakura.

"At least five to six years. That is how long it took for Yugi Muto to complete the puzzle. Any further and you risk a paradox."

"Who do we send though?" asked Bakura.

Harry tried to think of who they could send that wouldn't mess up the timeline.

Yugi and Yami were out, because of the fact that they would be a little too tempted to change things. Bakura and Ryou were out, because of Zorc. Malik and Marik were out, because if either of them went back the other would fade away. Seto Kaiba would have too much trouble convincing his past self. Luna couldn't go because she wasn't used to her necklace, at all.

Which left Harry.

"I'll go," sighed Harry.

"...You do realize that if you went you would be recognized immediately?" said Bakura.

"That is why color changing charms were invented. Besides, I found out last month with help from Tonks that I'm a Metamorphamagi, which means I can change my features."

"Wouldn't you deage if you went back in time?" asked Malik.

"...Not if he went by Shadow Magic. He would also end up with the Millennium Ankh if he took that route, which meant he would no longer need his wand," said Shadi tonelessly.

"How will the others react to this news?" asked Bakura.

"Who cares? I need a vacation from this nonsense dammit! And if I stayed here, Dumbledork would probably try to take control of the Items! I would rather be sent to the past than deal with him!"

Bakura and Malik winced.

Harry was absolutely right about that, because they had caught the looks the old man sent their Items a few times. The last thing they needed was for the senile old goat to get his hands on even _one_ of the Millennium Items. It was a recipe for disaster!

"There is only one thing I would do differently in the past though."

"What?"

"After Sirius runs from Hogwarts my third year, I'm inviting him to move in with me. All I can remember from that time was that he was no where near Europe, though he did make an appearance for fourth year after I was selected."

They all looked at Shadi. He looked back at them and said "That would not alter the future in any way, Harry Potter. So long as you do not run into anyone who would recognize you on sight, you may be able to live in the past. There is one thing you should know. Any years you gain while in the past will be lost once you reach the point of time where you left."

"So I would get the experience not the age? I can live with that."

* * *

"Pup, why are you going into the Shadow Realm alone?" asked Sirius in concern.

"The Millennium Items are too much of a hassle for them to stay in this time, so I was picked to go back to when they were sealed and get rid of them once and for all. I think."

"Why not let your boyfriend handle it? Or hell, let that annoying Pharaoh idiot handle it?"

"Bakura had a more sinister personality controlling him back then, and Yami is well...do I really have to spell out why he's not the best choice?" asked Harry.

"...Right, shouldn't have mentioned the star moron."

"By the way, is it true that Kaiba and 'Mione went out on a date last week?"

"Yeah, no surprise there. He can keep up with her and she can finally have a boyfriend who doesn't scorn her love of knowledge. Besides, he's more of a catch than Ron."

"Ron, the tactless wonder and who's only redeeming quality is the fact that he's a genius at chess. At least until Kaiba got to him. I haven't laughed so hard in ages!" snickered Harry.

Ron had, upon hearing how Seto Kaiba got his initial start into the gaming world, challenged him to a three on five match.

He lost within thirty minutes, and it only went downhill from there. On the plus side, Kaiba had introduced him to the International Chess Community and it hadn't taken the boy long to become ranked fourth in the world.

(He was right below the Champion Kaiba had beaten to earn the title, with Yami narrowly being above him.)

Molly wasn't too happy to find out that her son wouldn't be pursuing a career in the magical world. Even if he _was_ one of the best chess players in the world. On the other hand, Ron made more money playing chess than he would have in any career he could have chosen with his rather...poor...OWLs results. The most he could have achieved as a wizard was senior undersecretary in the Ministry.

"So who's Amane dating?"

Sirius snickered.

"Amane has a thing for the tall, dark and tanned crowd. Last I checked she was dating Marik's brother Rashid. I didn't think anyone that dark could blush."

Harry chuckled.

It took a few weeks for people to realize that yes, Voldemort had been defeated...without a massive loss of life. Frankly many felt the ending rather anti climatic.

Though that thought quickly changed once people realized their boy-who-lived not only had little to no interest in the female form, but he also had _two_ boyfriends who were quite happy to stab anyone who tried to get too close to their little one.

Plus Bakura apparently had a nose for whenever something had been spiked with love potions.

* * *

Before Harry set off into the past, taking the Items with him, he went down Knockturn.

The last thing he wanted was to get picked up because of the tracers on his wand.

He would turn 17 in the past, yes, but the chances of getting picked up because his past self supposedly cast magic were rather high for his liking.

So he was going to get a new wand, which would become a secondary one once he got back. Just to make sure that he didn't interfere with his own timeline, he had arranged to meet everyone back at Kaiba's mansion within a week of leaving. It would give him time to readjust to his proper age and get home.

The only real complaint he had was that he couldn't take Hedwig along with him. She could have kept him company.

Unfortunately, she hadn't undergone any serious changes, which meant she couldn't go with him. It would create a paradox.

* * *

Harry waited for Shadi, who would drop him off in Egypt a month before Yugi woke up the Shadow Realm. It would give him plenty of time to get settled and alert the goblins that he was there.

Plus it meant he could cause merry hell for Dumbledore should he try to steal from him like before. Harry had not been happy at _all_ when he found out that the senile old goat had been stealing from his vaults since he was eleven.

In order to keep up with the Friendship Squad and Bakura, Harry was going to retrieve the Millennium Key from Shadi as soon as he touched the ground in the past. Then he would stick to Dharc until it was safe to summon the other Charmers.

Harry took one last look at Bakura and Malik. They would be waiting impatiently for his return.

Then he stepped into the Shadow Realm and prepared to cause hell. He couldn't wait to see the look on the Pharaoh's face when he realized that not only did Harry not worship the ground he walked on, but he preferred Bakura's company to his!

* * *

He felt like he was falling. Images, sounds and darkness swirled around him in an incomprehensible vortex. He could see his past right before his eyes, and knew that if he changed anything he could destroy his own future.

Suddenly, it all stopped, and it felt more like floating than falling. He carefully straightened his legs, and started walking.

He found himself in Egypt, outside a market.

Following the pull of the Key, he found Shadi fairly quickly. The man was highly surprised to see him there.

"Who are you?"

Harry frowned, but Shadi had warned him that it could happen. That his past self would not recognize him.

"I am the true wielder of the Key. I have come to claim it."

He had also told him exactly what to say. Shadi looked at Harry sharply, then placed the Key in the boy's hands. To his complete shock, the Key flared with Shadow Magic before it was suppressed by the Puzzle.

It had accepted Harry without any question.

Harry left after getting directions to the nearest Gringotts branch. He would have to avoid Bill, though it was unlikely the man would recognize him at the moment.

Shortly after Bakura unwittingly sent Voldemort to the Shadow Realm (without facing him once), Harry's lightning scar had finally healed over, after bleeding black colored blood for an hour.

Harry walked into the branch, and hid a wince.

Standing there by the only open teller was Bill Weasly himself.

He went up to the goblin and explained that he needed a passport and a way into his vault in England. The goblin gave him a look, and took him back into the darker areas. One blood test later (and more than a few surprised/shocked looks) Harry walked out with a spare key to his vault.

Just as he had dreaded, Bill paused and looked at him closely.

Harry was very, very glad that he had changed his hair color to a silvery gray with red streaks.

"Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Not that I am aware of, but something tells me you'll figure out who I am sooner rather than later," replied Harry offhandedly.

An idea occurred to him, one that he couldn't resist.

"Say hello to the Terror Twins for me though," quipped Harry. Right before he Apparated to the nearest entrance to the Ishtar Clan. He loved the look of complete shock Bill had.

* * *

Ishizu went up top, upon hearing the tell tale crack of Wizard's Teleport. Her eyes widened upon seeing the Key around Harry's neck.

"Who are you?" she asked with suspicion.

Harry looked at her and grinned.

"Ask the Necklace and I'll get back to you on that."

Ishizu closed her eyes, and then opened them in shock. The Necklace had shown her the boy before her...with her brother's more sinister side. He was actually smiling in a normal way, and the people around him weren't running in absolute fear.

"I believe...we have much to discuss."

"Yes...we do," said Harry calmly.

Harry walked out of the underground tunnels with a new identity. He was going to need it in the years ahead.

Where Harry James Potter had entered the underground sanctuary of the Tomb Keepers, Tenebrae Ishtar had emerged. Ishizu had managed to get him adopted into the clan through the marriage laws, to his annoyance.

Though to be fair, he was one of Malik's two boyfriends, so it wasn't that much of a stretch. Ishizu found the fact that both sides of her younger brother both had a boyfriend amusing. The fact that the two happened to be cousins only amused her even more.

* * *

Harry walked into his new apartment, which happened to be right next to where his cousin would eventually live in. At least he would be able to help Ryou deal with Bakura. Though he was going to enjoy the look of shock and disbelief the Thief King was going to have on his face when Harry not only caught the knives, but also threw them back with disturbing accuracy.

Living with Bakura tended to give one unusual skills and plenty of practice with knives.


	12. Chapter 12

"Everyone, we have a new transfer all the way from Egypt."

Tenebrae walked in, and ignored the instant response from the girls.

His lightly tanned skin, deep obsidian hair, and bright emerald eyes immediately drew girls to him in droves. Add to that his sense of humor, his high intelligence, and the fact that he happened to be as rich as Kaiba...

He would be beating them off with a stick, if not a beater's bat complete with bludger.

He zeroed in on Yugi, who was still a mousy boy since he hadn't completed the Puzzle just yet.

To his amusement, he had beaten his cousin to the school by a full week. Ryou had memorized the date he first came to the school...mostly out of morbid curiosity. Within a few days of joining the school, Bakura awoke.

Tenebrea watched in amusement as Ryou entered the room. The albino took in the others...and then his eyes stopped cold on him. Recognition lit into his brown eyes...and complete shock.

Ryou probably thought he was a de-aged, contacts wearing James Potter from that look.

* * *

When lunch rolled around, Tenebrae waited on the roof. It wasn't a long wait at all.

"Uncle James?" asked the albino tentatively.

"Time travel, itoko. And I'm not James."

Ryou's eyes widened further, as he realized in shock who was before him.

"Little Harry?"

He grinned.

"Right now my name is Tenebrae. But yeah, it's me."

"It can't be. You would have to be..."

"Thirteen at least? Perhaps this will make a few things clearer."

Tenebrae lifted up the Key, and Ryou looked absolutely floored.

"You...you have one too?"

"He's probably going to wake up fairly soon, so if you start blacking out tell me. He was a bit...cranky, from what you told me."

"He?"

"I'm not going to ruin that surprise itoko."

"How can you speak Japanese so well? You're half British, half Irish!"

"Half Irish? Sirius never mentioned my mum was Irish."

Ryou raised an eyebrow.

"She had red hair and green eyes. You mean you didn't rule it out by simple deduction?"

"I forget that you've never met Petunia. I wish I was that lucky," replied Tenebrae sourly.

"Petunia Dursley? But I thought the will stated..."

"I am aware of what the will stated. Someone decided I would be..._safer_...at her house. What a load of bollocks."

"Seriously? I remember hearing my mother rant about her."

"I know where Amane is. Though I don't think you would want to see her, since she is in France."

The bell rang, and they went inside.

Ryou was very shocked to find out that Tenebrae had bought the apartment right next to his own. As if he knew where Ryou would live.

(He did.)

Since he still hadn't finished unpacking, Tenebrae helped his cousin out. And then bought dinner.

Ryou was somewhat horrified to learn how bad his cousin's life would turn out. But the danger of a paradox was too high for him to interfere.

Besides, if Dumbledore was aware of the fact Harry had gone back in time, he would stop at nothing to control him and Ryou...and by extension the Items they carried.

* * *

"So you're afraid to play Monster World because every time you do, someone ends up in a coma? Sounds like his work."

"Who is he?"

"Have you experienced any blackouts recently?"

"The gym teacher is in the hospital."

"He's an ass. Figures he would go first," said Tenebrae with a snort.

"How do you know about...this?" asked Ryou.

"When I first came to Japan, I lived with four people. You, your boyfriend, and the pair of psychotic spirits which the two of you carried. Unfortunately for the two of you, they didn't learn how to manifest in physical form until _after_ the Items you carried were sealed."

"Dear lord..."

Tenebrae snorted louder.

"Gods have nothing to do with this. If I ever ran into the one who delivered that damn prophecy, they'll learn exactly why people hide the flammable liquids in the house whenever I'm around."

Ryou choked on his tea. Tenebrae had a large stock of British tea that he hadn't had in years. (Which meant he was so swiping a few of them later.)

* * *

Tenebrae knew the date of the first Shadow Game since the realm was sealed, which was why he entered a few games at the Kame Game shop so he could play properly.

Bakura wouldn't know what hit him. He had a camera on him to properly record the look on the spirit's face when he saw his character.

Tenebrae had learned a few things from Yugi's grandfather about the game...like a little know rule that would allow him to switch jobs at level fifteen.

He could switch to one new job...at the cost of over half his level. If he sacrificed all of them, he could keep all of his skills and still learn new ones.

Tenebrae had worked several nights and learned several high powered spells. And went back to level one and became a thief.

Bakura would be in for a nasty shock when he came out.

He was an elf thief with all the skills of a level twenty Mage. He could revive the dead at least twice with that kind of power.

He spotted his least favorite people arriving...and knocked on the door. Bakura let him in, since Ryou had an open door policy when it came to his favorite cousin.

(Mostly because whenever Tenebrae came into his house, he usually tidied it up and made sure the fridge was stocked. Old habits really died hard.)

"You about to play Monster World?" he asked.

Bakura nodded.

"Mind if I join? I brought my character with me. Figured you could use a real player to challenge your Dark Master skills."

Bakura took the stat sheet, and gave him a look.

"Is this for real? No level One thief has this sort of magic stat," he said.

"I used a little known rule to change jobs. Reset my character to level one, but I kept my old skills."

"Rule 413, Third Edition?" he asked.

"You know this game better than I thought."

Bakura nodded to the bookshelf. Unlike in Tenebrae's time, Ryou had his shelf full of rulebooks for Monster World...and a few for Duel Monsters. Right in the middle was the second newest rulebook for Dark Masters.

He really should have expected that.

"So what was your previous job?"

"Mage. I was level twenty before I switched, so my magic stats are fairly high."

Bakura nodded, taking that in stride.

"Go ahead and set it on the board then. Have to wait for them to finish creating their characters before the real fun starts," said Bakura.

"Right."

"So Tenebrae, what's your character name?"

Tenebrae shot Bakura an evil grin as he said "Ba-Ku-Ra, or as it translates from Egyptian, the Spirit of Ra. Personally I'm a bigger fan of Bast and Horus, but what can you do?"

Bakura took the jibe with grace, glad to note that no one caught the joke on his name. Though he would love to know who the hell told this kid his original name from Ancient Times.

Things progressed normally, though Tenebrae kept baiting Anzu for some reason. Bakura rather enjoyed his sharp wit.

When they reached the forest, Tenebrae opted to go alone. Jounouchi complained, saying they were a team.

"We aren't a team. I've played this game for nearly two weeks, and I've learned a few tricks to level up faster. For example, my decision to go alone means that while I won't have any help from you during battle, I also don't have to share any of the exp, which goes up the smaller your party is," said Tenebrae amused.

"He's right, actually. Smaller parties usually double their experience points during battle. And the rules don't explicitly state that a party _has_ to stay together during the game. There are even situations when a Dark Master splits the team on purpose during dungeons."

"I've seen plenty of people bitch about that," grinned Tenebrae.

"Alright, Ba-Ku-Ra (he winced, even if Tenebrae _had_ pronounced the name correctly) goes around the forest, so he'll have to use five more turns to catch up," said Bakura.

"See ya," grinned Tenebrae, sitting away from the group.

He winced a few times as the gang fell for the more obvious traps while he enjoyed an easier trip on the outside. He shocked them all by taking down level six monsters while they struggled with level four.

"How the heck are you killing those things?" complained Honda.

"Easy. I changed jobs last week, and because of a little known rule kept all my old skills. The only reason I'm at level one is because of the change."

It didn't really surprise him that he made it to the castle a full turn before Yugi's group. They had fallen into a forest pit, and lost three turns trying to get out.

Then they came across a body in the woods and things really turned interesting. One by one, the characters in Yugi's group fell. Until only Tenebrae was left awake.

Yugi had relinquished control to his darker half, so he was wide awake and angry.

"It is now Tenebrae's turn," said Bakura.

"Since the noobs have yet to catch up, I shall spend this turn in front of the castle casting the Recover spell."

Bakura tossed him the dice. Depending on his roll, he would either regain one or two hit points and five magic points, or he would have a full recovery.

Tenebrae wasn't surprised to see a super critical, which meant his character was back where it started, at full health.

Two turns later, and the trapped players were finally at the castle.

"How is it that you weren't captured?" asked Yami curious.

"One, I happen to be a better player than you, and two, he would have considerable trouble catching me with that little trick."

As soon as they entered the castle Tenebrae noted the dark looks Anzu kept giving him. He was the only one to remain outside the pillar when it dropped.

"And yet again I am reminded why I hate playing with noobs," said Tenebrae.

When Zorc came out, Tenebrae demonstrated his thieving skills. He robbed the main baddie of over a thousand gold in one hit, and lowered his health by a good hundred points.

Though Zorc still had plenty left.

While Yami Yugi tried to find the number which would free his Hikari, Tenebrae dealt blows to the Dark Master.

When Yami _finally _got them free (only because the Luck of the Gods made it impossible for him to lose a Shadow Game) Tenebrae was growing bored.

Normally he really enjoyed this game, but when he was playing with a bunch of noobs, the fun dropped.

Tenebrae was very close to falling asleep when something interesting _finally_ happened.

It turned out that Ryou did have a spine, because he had managed to free himself with Yugi's help from Zorc.

"Hey Ryou," said Tenebrae bored.

Yugi's little band of cohorts weren't too happy with him at the moment. Tenebrae had been making snarky comments the entire game after Yami freed them, and it had annoyed them greatly.

They kept acting like it was the end of the world or something if they lost. Then again, if they lost Bakura would steal their souls. Tenebrae yawned.

With Yami's luck there wasn't a chance of that happening.

Tenebrae watched the anticlimactic win (for him) and noted with boredom that his level went up by at least three by killing Zorc. He looked at the stat sheet and winced.

Bakura had been using a level twenty on level four newbies, and two level ten players. It was a miracle they had managed to kill him.

He stretched, and noted that the Ring had fallen off. Unseen by the others, he picked it up.

* * *

Tenebrae was bored. While Yami was finally active, things would still take a few weeks to really pick up. And Malik wouldn't show up for at least another few months.

He still had the Ring, which meant it would take Bakura a while to come back. Which meant he wouldn't have any fun teasing the spirit or hinting at their rather close relationship.

He sighed. Then he had an idea.

Picking up the Ring, he went into the Shadow Realm for a walk.

Apparently the Ring did more than summon the Realm. It also lead him to a piece of information Tenebrae didn't know was floating around.

He recognized the chains of blood. After Bakura inadvertently defeated Voldemort, he had gone to see what the result was.

Bakura used these same chains, only these were more evil than the ones he preferred.

But it was the soul in the chains that caught his attention.

"Well this is unexpected. How did you chain yourself up 'Kura?" he asked.

A pair of old eyes glared at him, and he noted that there was a scar under the right eye. While this was clearly Bakura, it wasn't the one he was familiar with.

"How do you know my name?"

"So your name _is_ Bakura?"

"Fool! My name is Ba-Ku-Ra, the King of Thieves!"

Tenebrae blinked twice.

"Wait a minute...you're the Ancient counterpart to that dumbass Pharaoh?"

Ba-Ku-Ra blinked this time. The kid thought the pharaoh was an idiot? Tenebrae then proceeded to get on Ba-ku-Ra's good side by listing _why_ the Pharaoh was a narcissistic idiot.

Eventually, he asked the spirit why he was chained like that in the Shadow Realm.

"Zorc took my body as payment for his help," he said bitterly.

"Because of the previous Pharaoh's sin?"

Ba-ku-Ra stared. This boy, who lived in a time far more different than his own, knew about the true reason Kul Elna was destroyed?

"Anyway, why are you still here? The Realm has been unsealed, so you should be able to manifest a body long enough to punch the bastard."

"I can't leave. The rules dictate that I can't leave this place as long as the chains bind me," he said.

"Hmm... Well, Dharc, what's the verdict on those chains?" Tenebrae asked pleasantly.

Ba-ku-Ra's head whipped to the side, where a spellcaster was poking at the chains. It was a dark oriented one, and appeared to be one of the Charmers

"_While he is sealed here, I see no evidence of a Game being used to keep him in place. You can break the chains, but being able to manifest a solid body would be difficult without an Item at the moment."_

Ba-ku-ra blinked. He could be rid of the chains? Sure he didn't mind the Shadow Realm, but to be able to move freely about it would be wondrous.

Tenebrae drew his Key, and the spirit hissed. He had sensed the Ring, since he was the previous owner, but he hadn't felt the Key at all.

"Oh do behave. I don't like relying on this stupid thing any more than you like the pharaoh. But in situations like these, it's a necessary evil," tutted Tenebrae.

The chains shattered like glass as he moved the Key over them. Ba-ku-Ra rubbed his wrist for the first time in over a millennium. He looked at the youth before him, who had all the confidence he did with a more agile body.

"Who the hell are you brat?" he asked finally.

"Me? My name is Harry Potter, but you can call me Tenebrae. And if you want to give the pharaoh a much needed heart attack caused by shock, then you can stay with me."

Ba-ku-Ra gave him an evil smirk. That sounded like it would be fun!

"You have a deal brat. You can call me Kura, seeing as how Zorc is running around in my reincarnated body at the moment."

"Welcome back to the world, Kura."

* * *

For the next week, Tenebrae had to suffer with his new house guest. Kura had absolutely no sense of technology, which he had expected...just not to this extent.

The Bakura of his time at least knew what a remote was and didn't try to stab the TV set during movies. Tenebrae spent an entire day showing Kura how to operate the washer and how to work the DVD player.

He put up with it for one reason, and one reason only.

In exchange for showing him how to operate machines, Kura showed Tenebrae how to use knives and helped him with his deck.

Tenebrae was going to challenge one of Marik's Ghouls for Slifer in order to annoy the Pharaoh. He wasn't going to try for the Winged Dragon of Ra because Marik had once mentioned the many copies he had made of the card.

Frankly he didn't think the overgrown dragon was worth that much effort to track down the original.


	13. Chapter 13

Over the weeks Tenebrae had shown up, he had made an unexpected ally in Kaiba. Because of that, he was one of the few to watch the duel between the ego maniac and the dragon otaku.

He stood next to Mokuba, already knowing how the game would end. He had heard about the first duel against the Pharaoh that Kaiba could actually remember before, so he was giving a snarky commentary against the pharaoh to Mokuba.

Tenebrae had actually gotten a job as Mokuba's bodyguard by accident, when he prevented three kidnapping attempts by people planning to use the boy as leverage against Kaiba in the same week.

Mokuba liked Tenebrae, because he was able to get along with his older brother and still knew how to have fun.

Plus Tenebrae occasionally showed Mokuba magic.

When Kaiba lost, Tenebrae did his best to salvage what the pharaoh had stripped from the boy. While Kaiba had been extremely ruthless before, only showing compassion towards his little brother, the pharaoh had stripped all of it away.

And that wouldn't do. Kaiba needed to be ruthless sometimes for his company and dueling skills to survive. His mind was hardwired that way at an early age in order for him to have survived this long. If he was stripped of that, his self confidence would be shattered and it would take him months, if not years to properly recover from it.

That didn't mean Tenebrae put it all back. He found just enough for Kaiba to function normally and had Dharc scatter the rest to the four winds. Anyone seeking to control Kaiba through this event would have to work for it.

* * *

Tenebrae saw the box on his doorstep, and curious, waited until Kura was up to watch the tape.

It turned out to be a sound idea, because Pegasus tried to seal Kura away through his Millennium Eye. Kura, on the other hand, was able to resist because (A) he was aware of what the man was doing, and (B) because he was immune to such effects after fighting the chains Zorc used on him for five thousand years.

"I thought Ryou was joking when he said that Yugi's grandfather was sealed through the TV," said Tenebrae as he blinked.

"That was annoying," said Kura.

The ancient spirit went to the stove and made some tea.

Tenebrae was proud to say that he had managed to get Kura up to date enough that he could operate the stove and laundry machines without blowing up anything or knifing anyone afterwords. Kura still gnashed his teeth and swore rather creatively in Ancient Egyptian when he attempted to operate anything more complicated than the microwave or the DVD player, but he was making great progress.

Tenebrae didn't _dare _allow him near his laptop.

Once he got his things ready (the boat was leaving in a few days) Tenebrae went to see if Kaiba would let him take a days off for the tournament.

Instead, Mokuba came directly to his apartment, breathing heavily.

Pegasus had tried to kidnap him on Tenebrae's day off. He didn't know where else to go, since Kaiba had left for a bit and was holed up somewhere.

Tenebrae had no idea what to do with the boy, until his eyes fell on Kura.

Kura had been trying his best to help with rent (even if Tenebrae technically _owned_ the apartment they lived in) but he wasn't very good at regular jobs. Plus there was the small matter of the fact that he had been dead for nearly five thousand years.

Fortunately things really don't change that much when it came to robbing people. Kura was able to able to keep up with helping with household expenses by robbing people in the underworld blind.

When Tenebrae learned where Kura was getting the money, he looked at the man and said bluntly _"I don't care if you rob people and use the Shadow Realm to escape the cops, but they had damn well better not come knocking on MY door looking for your ass."_

There was a reason why Kura liked Tenebrae, aside from the fact that they both hated the pharaoh.

Tenebrae decided to make doubles of his dueling glove and the cards. Since there wasn't anything magical about them, he was able to make perfect doppelgangers of the items. With a few well placed changes, Kura and Mokuba wouldn't be recognized right off.

Mokuba had his long hair pulled back into a pony tail, and he no longer had his distinct scarf around his neck. It was ridiculously easy to change the boy's hair color with a spell to a sapphire blue with light amethyst hints in the bangs, as well as darken his whole skin.

Kura had his hair changed to blood red, and was wearing his favorite outfit. He had on a necklace that would lead him straight to Tenebrae should he get separated from him by adding shadow magic.

Tenebrae dressed casually, but in a way that would make it hard to identify him later.

Considering it was his outfits that usually kept him from getting into trouble for casting magic outside of class, Tenebrae had a veritable wardrobe of clothes that kept him anonymous.

It annoyed the hell out of his watchers, who knew he had some ancient artifact that could cause trouble, but they couldn't do anything if the witnesses couldn't identify him.

It made him so happy to make someone else's day worse.

* * *

Tenebrae hid a groan when he saw Yugi immediately put a target on his back by sharing his star chips with his friend. He could already see the boy hadn't even _bothered_ to prepare for a camping trip.

He had heard Ryou mention that he wished he had packed properly for Duelist Kingdom, since they had to survive on an isolated island for nearly a week with no food and limited water.

Bearing that in mind, Tenebrae had raided the grocery store and the nearest magical alley for a tent...and something he knew Kaiba was going to strangle him later for...butterbeer and firewhiskey.

(The Fire Whiskey was for Kura and Tenebrae. Butterbeer was for Mokie. It had some alcohol in it, which is why Kaiba was sure to kill him for introducing the rather hyper preteen to the drink.)

Mokuba and Kura passed the inspection, since Pegasus never actually _gave_ the guards the names of those he had invited. Tenebrae happened to see a flash of hot pink, and nearly put a crick in his neck from whipping it around so fast.

"Oh dear Bast...please tell me I was seeing things..."

Kura, surprised by the oath, gave his partner in crime a look.

"I think the pharaoh's cheering section is here," Tenebrae whimpered.

Kura winced. He had only seen the Friendship Squad, but it was enough to make him want to gouge his eyes out. Anzu in particular.

"Who's the pharaoh?" asked Mokuba.

Tenebrae looked at Kura and had an evil glint in his eye.

"Promise you won't repeat what I say to your brother?"

Mokuba was an imp in disguise, which is why he loved the kid. He nodded eagerly.

"He's the arrogant little (BLEEP) who hurt your brother in that duel. Yugi is just the unlucky bastard who's stuck with him popping out every time he duels," said Tenebrae cheerfully.

Mokuba loved Tenebrae, if only because he was the only guard who could take a joke and swear in front of him. Kaiba tended to be a bit uptight, and if he heard anyone swearing with his brother in the vicinity they were fired on the spot.

Tenebrae was spared the brunt of that because Mokuna liked him a lot, and if he left the boy would be extremely unhappy with his brother.

Plus Tenebrae wasn't above slipping Mokuba chocolate frogs, which tended to put him in a sugar rush that drove Kaiba up the wall.

(Little known rule in Kaiba Corp: Anyone idiotic enough to give the Vice President sugar had to clean up the aftermath. Mokuba could go on a sugar high with two or three bars of chocolate, and he tended to annoy the hell out of his brother when that happened. Tenebrae not only _didn't_ care about this rule, he also set the blame on people who had annoyed him greatly in the office that day.)

Tenebrae went to get some fresh air, avoiding the fools who would be sent packing withing a few days, if not hours.

Which was why he was witness to bug boy throwing the Exodia cards overboard, and Jounouchi diving in to get them.

He successfully rescued three, but unseen by Yugi and his group, Tenebrae summoned the ones the boy missed. If all went well, he could blackmail or trade Yugi for some better cards to complete his set.

Living with Bakura, Malik and then Kura had altered the way Tenebrae viewed the world. It made him slightly more pessimistic, but also less prone to jump into a mystery without proper back up and enough flamethrowers to set a house on fire. If you can't set it on fire, then it was time to go to plan B!

By the time they reached shore, Tenebrae was very, very close to gagging. Listening to Anzu's friendship speeches always made him close to barfing.

Kura noted his expression and said "Pharaoh's ego?"

"Friendship spiel... I just thought of a great way to get rid of those idiots and actually _enjoy_ this tournament."

"Oh?"

"Hey Mokie, you up to a little kidnapping and tying people up?"

"Who, when and where?" the boy countered with an impish smirk.

(Elsewhere, Kaiba felt a chill go down his spine. His poor, innocent little brother was being corrupted at that very moment, and he was stuck in a little cottage perfecting his duel disks. If he found out who was behind it he was going to have their heads!)

"Yugi's little friendship squad, and on the island. Catching them will be easy. But finding something to tie they up with will be a pain."

Mokuba laughed in such a way that even Kura had chills.

Tenebrae, on the other hand, took it in stride. He _was_ Kaiba's brother after all, and there was a good chance of the boy picking up his brother's attitude somewhere along the line. Tenebrae just helped the boy bring it out constructively.

Probably why Kaiba didn't like him spending so much time with his brother.

* * *

Anzu went into the brush alone, mostly to go to the bathroom. After she was done, she went to find the guys...only to get knocked out from behind with a spell. Kura watched over her (after protesting quite loudly only to be appeased with the fact that he would duel the star kid if he ran into him) while Tenebrae lured Honda away from the group.

The only ones out of the Friendship Squad who would be left were Jounouchi and Yugi. Ryou, thankfully, was as repulsed by Anzu as his darker side.

Mokuba was the one to knock out Honda with a well placed piece of rope Tenebrae conjured. Honda should have looked where he was going, if he didn't notice a rope that think springing up from the ground.

Aside from a massive bump on the guy's head, he would recover in a few hours.

Tenebrae couldn't be prouder of the brat. Kura gleefully tied up the two, then they made a point of finding their minders. Pegasus had the two stowaways sent off with the first shipment of losers.

Tenebrae ran into Ryou first, and delivered that news to the boy with no little sense of amusement. He even mentioned how proud he was watching Kaiba's baby brother knock out an idiot, which sent the spirit of the Ring howling.

(Ryou later informed Yugi that Anzu and Honda had been caught by the security guards and sent home. He just didn't mention _how_ they had gotten caught.)

* * *

By the time Kaiba arrived on the island, he was horrified to run into Tenebrae teaching what appeared to be his younger brother some of the raunchiest drinking songs he knew.

"_MOKUBA?"_

"Shit! How the hell did you run into us on the cliffs and not Yugi?" asked Tenebrae, hiding the fire whiskey.

"Saw the fire. Please tell me you aren't getting my little brother drunk," said Kaiba, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Are you kidding? This butterbeer stuff barely has any alcohol in it!" said Kura, drinking another shot.

"Relax Kaiba, they sell this stuff in bulk to thirteen year olds in England. All it really does is get you warmed up," said Tenebrae.

He tossed a bottle to the boy, who took a sip. He had to admit, it wasn't as bad as he feared. He could barely taste a hint of alcohol.

By the time morning came, Kaiba was shocked to find out he had gotten drunk and was inside what appeared to be a triangular house. A house where the walls moved with the wind.

_Ow...what the hell did I drink last night?_

He went to wash his face, noting that his little brother had curled up beside him in the night. Mokuba looked quite ridiculous with that hair color. Though he was curious as to _where_ his brother had managed to find a hair dye that could work on his dark hair.

He exited the house...and popped his back. It wasn't until he turned around that he gaped in disbelief.

_Am I still drunk?_

He popped his head back into the tent, and went back out. Either he was having the strangest hangover of all time, or the house he was just in was actually a tent.

_Error: Does NOT compute!_

"Morning Kaiba. Seems you've noticed the fact that my tent isn't normal," yawned Tenebrae.

"What the hell?" he finally said.

Tenebrae grinned.

"I would be lying my ass off if I said it was an illusion or technology. Magic is real, though if you still don't believe me I can take you to a few dragon sanctuaries when this is over," said Tenebrae amused.

To his credit, Kaiba only blinked twice before he held out his hand and said "Deal. After seeing that house, tent, whatever, I'm willing to believe."

Tenebrae grinned wider. It seemed that unlike the Kaiba of his time, this one hadn't been forced to suffer through the pharaoh's crappy rants about the fact that he had magic. Which made his job so much easier.

Once they were on their way to the castle, Kaiba had to ask whether Yugi showed up or not. Which lead to the evil laughter of his little brother and Kura.

"Oh, he showed up alright. So did his cheering squad," cackled Kura.

"And you aren't hyperventilating why?" asked Kaiba. He had noted the odd reaction Tenebrae had to Anzu whenever she started on her rants.

"Because I had Mokie and Kura help me send their sorry arses back to the mainland within a day of coming."

Kaiba turned to his little brother.

"Mokie?"

"I only tripped the idiot with bad hair. He won't have any permanent damage and I did Yugi a favor."

"The mutt?" asked Kaiba hopefully.

"Unfortunately, no. Yugi sacrificed one of his chips to get him in here legally, so you'll have to have him kicked out the old fashioned way. We got rid of Honda and Anzu."

"This coming from the brat who stunned the twit," said Kura.

"She deserved to have her hair turn puke green and all her horrible clothes burned," shuddered Tenebrae.

Kaiba winced as well.

* * *

"What the hell?" said Kaiba.

Standing before him was the star kid who beat him...and he was dueling what appeared to be him. Jounouchi and Ryou were the only ones standing on Yugi's side of the platform, while a Mokuba look alike was being held hostage.

Yugi turned at his voice, and gaped.

"Kaiba?"

"Who the hell is this idiot, and when did he steal my deck?" scowled Kaiba.

You could tell he was pissed, mostly because he was actually swearing in front of his baby brother. Ryou raised an eyebrow at Mokuba's hair color, but wisely kept his observation to himself.

(Frankly he found the look-a-like of himself rather disturbing, because the kid acted too much like Yugi's cheer squad.)

When the Pharaoh beat the fake Kaiba (having grossed everyone out when he broke the illusion a few minutes after learning Kaiba was already on the island) Kaiba took back his deck with a scowl.

The guard and the fake Mokuba were gone.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save your brother Kaiba," said Yugi sadly.

"What are you talking about? I'm right here you know," said Mokuba with annoyance.

"Mokuba? But I thought...?"

Tenebrae snorted.

"Yugi, you mean to tell me you can't tell the difference between a fake and the actual person unless you duel them? People with Millennium Items can create realistic illusions to fool others. Besides, Mokuba came straight to me when Pegasus tried to kidnap him."

"Wasn't that hard to escape... I always keep a few frogs prepared in case something like that happens."

Kaiba winced. He had seen Mokuba on a major sugar high before, and it wasn't pretty. Particularly if his brother had a grudge against someone. One of the many reasons he kept Tenebrae close to his brother was that the boy actually showed Mokuba how to escape and make it look like a really bad idea to try and grab him twice.

Finding out Mokuba kept some of those odd chocolates Tenebrae kept bringing into the office made him twitch. Eating four of those put him on a mild sugar high, eight and he was bouncing off the walls.

"How many did you eat?" he asked.

"Ten. There were twelve guys trying to grab me, and I didn't want to take any chances. We'll have to replace a few windows on the lower floors though..."

"Oh dear god..."

Since Yugi was convinced Kaiba needed help, he insisted that the teen stick near them. Tenebrae allowed it under the conditions that Yugi's group stayed out of his tent.

He gave them a lie that it couldn't hold more than four people.

(What Yugi didn't know was that Ryou had already snuck in and claimed the couch. Everyone else slept in a bunk bed.)

Everyone was bored, so they decided to compare their favorite monsters.

Kaiba, of course, was his beloved Blue Eyes. Jounouchi had his Flame Swordsman, Mokuba had Fairy King Truesdale, Ryou brought out his Change of Heart, and Tenebrae surprised everyone with his Charmers.

"You have no idea how hard it is to just pick one Charmer," he said dryly.

"You actually have a Charmer deck?" asked Kaiba, interested. He had seen a few half assed ones, but they usually ended up being weak.

"Actually it's a spellcaster deck with the main theme being Charmers. I have quite a few magic and trap cards to boost their attack power while I use their abilities to annoy my opponents," said Tenebrae amused.

"Can you pick you favorite Charmer?" asked Ryou.

"Easy. My personal favorite is Dharc, though depending on who I'm up against it can switch," said Tenebrae.

"How about a little fun? We can put our favorite cards into Yugi's deck and have a duel. No star chips or anything else."

"I'm game," said Jounouchi, not realizing he was walking into a trap.

"I'm not putting my Blue Eyes in his deck," scowled Kaiba.

"I'm in," said Mokuba.

"I'll put Dharc in too, though I would rather _Bakura_ play him than Yugi," said Tenebrae.

Only Kura caught the way the boy emphasized that name. He had yet to find any of the modern monsters he liked, since the only one he did like was Dark Necrofear, and it wasn't out yet.

Once they had shuffled the cards into Yugi's deck, Tenebrae felt the hairs on his neck go up. Bakura had brought them into the Shadow Realm before the game even started. This would not end well.


End file.
